Time is often read instantly – a glance at a clock imparts immediate meaning. In contrast, ‘meditations’ resists this immediacy by submerging listeners into a sound bath where the passage of time becomes a prerequisite for reading it. This installation offers a meditative alternative to conventional clocks, whose nature can reinforce feelings of urgency and pressure.

The sound of ‘meditations’ takes inspiration from the New Age aesthetic that has taken hold of Western perceptions of mindfulness practices. All sounds presented in this installation, including the rain, are completely synthetic and algorithmically generated in real-time. While it may be audible from a distance, the soundscape of ‘meditations’ will only be revealed to listeners who decide to sit between the tuning fork shaped sculpture. This physical relationship that the listener must negotiate with the sculpture acts as a reminder that time should be read with intention.

The current hour, minute, and second can be identified by observing the rhythm of different tones. Binaural audio is also used to spatialize each tone to match the position of the corresponding analog clock hands.



‘meditations’ is composed of the following sounds (visualized above):

  • At the beginning of every minute you will hear a deep bell ring.
  • Every 5 seconds you'll hear a singing bowl rotate around you with the apex of its amplitude spatially aligning with the notches of an analog clock.
  • A high tone will ring at the exact moment that the second hand would overlap with the minute hand on an analog clock. It will be spatialized in the direction of the minute hand.
  • A low tone will ring for the hour hand in a similar fashion as the minute hand.
  • As the minute progresses the synthetic rain will gradually intensify and reset at the start of the next minute.
  • Additionally, a soft "crunch" can be heard slowly moving around the listener corresponding to the tick of the second hand.

To read the time, the listener must:

  1. Sit on the stool with your head centered between the end of the tines and face away from the installation
  2. Listen for a bell to ring at the start of every minute
  3. Count the number of singing bowl rotations as the minute progresses
  4. Listen for a low tone to ring. When it rings, note the number of singing bowl rotations that have occured. That number is the current hour.
  5. Listen for a high tone to ring. When it rings, note the number of singing bowl rotations that have occured. Multiply that number by 5 to approximately get the current minute.


‘meditations’ was made in collaboration with Alex Nagy, who designed, constructed, and installed the physical sculpture.