British Summer Time, 2021

Location: Chiswick House, London, UK 

The artwork is a vast analemmatic sundial in the grounds of Chiswick House. The sundial was precisely calculated to the coordinates of Chiswick House Exedra and was laid out as a vast ellipse (c. 20m by 7m) with stone spheres marking the hours of the day. Each stone sphere weighs in at 20kg and is held in place with steel rods and heavy duty steel plates in the grass of the gardens. To experience “British Summer Time” visitors are asked to stand on a central series of stone flag stones that show the months of the year. When standing on the current month, the shadow they cast points towards the correct time of day, positioning them within the Earth’s daily and yearly cycle around the sun.

Added to this experience of British Summer Time a musical box on the site plays the tune of a familiar waltz every hour as bubbles are released into the air.  British Summer Time is a celebration of the summer months and the joy of being outside in the sunshine, while the fragility of the bubbles and ephemerality of our shadows are evocative of the transience of all such moments.

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