Supported by Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and Kadıköy Municipality.
Sundial of the Blind connects the southern hook of Moda Coastal Park with the North Star, inviting visitors to reconsider their location and position. Once called "the land of the blind", today's Kadıköy, the ancient city of Khalkedon, now hosts this piece with riddles about time and space on it.
By looking at the shadow of the ‘gnomon’ (the part of the sundial that is parallel to Earth’s axis), and locating the hour line on which it falls, you can tell the time. Direct sunlight is necessary, so one can read the time only between sunrise and sunset. In the morning, the shadows fall to the west of the gnomon, and in the afternoon, to the east.
On the marble sphere there is a shiny aluminium surface with a star map engraving, that can be rotated, and shows the position of stars at a given time in a specific day, working like a planisphere.
A poem about time is embossed on the side surface, belonging to a poet who lived and taught in Kadıköy for a while. The piece invites the audience to re-imageine their locus, and question ways of seeing, as well as what blindness could possibly (not) mean.
Photos by: Kayhan Kaygusuz.
