Insolations




Insolations in the exhibition Incense for the Mesosphere, Kyoto Art Center, November 20 - 24, 2024





Each wooden bowl is a record of the motion and strength of the sun over the course of a day.

A 70mm spherical lens is placed inside the bowl, and the bowl is then placed outside in an open area before the sun rises. As the sun travels across the sky and sunlight passes through the spherical lens, it is focused to a point on the opposite side and slowly burns a line on the interior surface of the bowl. The interior hemispheres of the bowls can be viewed as upside-down celestial spheres.

“Insolation” is a term defined as the total amount of thermal radiation received from the Sun. Each line inside of the bowls is the mark of a singular insolation—a drawing created by the rays of the sun and the clouds passing overhead.




The bowls were found in different shops around the city of Kyoto during my residency at Kyoto Art Center in autumn of 2024. Each bowl, being a different type of wood, surface coating, and curvature, responded slightly differently to the beam of sunlight. The use of found soup bowls makes a connection to a daily ritual—the eating of a meal—to the ritual of the rotation of the earth, and the rising and setting of the sun.



Location: Kamogawa Delta, Kyoto
Date: 12 November, 2024
Daylight hours: 10h 24m 49s
Wood: Unknown



Location: Horikawa Danchi, Kyoto
Date: 21 November, 2024
Daylight hours: 10h 10m 52s
Wood: Magnolia obovata



Location: Horikawa Danchi, Kyoto
Date: 21 November, 2024
Daylight hours: 10h 10m 52s
Wood: Maple



Location: Kamogawa Delta, Kyoto
Date: 11 November, 2024
Daylight hours: 10h 26m 31s
Wood: Unknown



Location: Funaokayama Park, Kyoto
Date: 4 November, 2024
Daylight hours: 10h 39m 01s
Wood: Jujube



Location: Kamogawa Delta, Kyoto
Date: 13 November, 2024
Daylight hours: 10h 23m 09s
Wood: Maple



Location: Kamogawa Delta, Kyoto
Date: 12 November, 2024
Daylight hours: 10h 24m 49s
Wood: Unknown




Location: Kamogawa Delta, Kyoto
Date: 11 November, 2024
Daylight hours: 10h 26m 31s
Wood: Unknown




Location: Kamogawa Delta, Kyoto
Date: 13 November, 2024
Daylight hours: 10h 23m 09s
Wood: Unknown




Location: Horikawa Danchi, Kyoto
Date: 3 November, 2024
Daylight hours: 10h 40m 53s
Wood: Jujube





This project was made possible through the support of Office for Contemporary Art Norway