About this project
A History of the Sky is a dynamic, time-lapse visualization of the sky for an entire year.
Time-lapse movies give us a glimpse of events that are continually occurring around us, but far too slowly to observe directly. A History of the Sky reveals the rhythms of weather, the lengthening and shortening of days, and other atmospheric events on an immediate aesthetic level: the clouds, fog, wind, and rain form a rich visual texture, and sunrises and sunsets cascade across the screen.
This is a work in progress. Currently, an image of the sky is being captured every 10 seconds from a camera installed on the roof of the Exploratorium, on the edge of San Francisco Bay.
Each day's images are assembled into a time-lapse movie. The final piece will consist of a large mosaic of 365 movies, each representing one day of the year, arranged in order by date. The days all play back in parallel, so that at any given moment, one is looking at the same time of day across all of the days.
My next step is to build the display. The funds I raise here will be used to purchase a set of HD monitors (or possibly projectors) which will be arranged side-by-side, to produce a huge panoramic view. I want viewers to be able to stand back and observe the atmospheric phenomena of an entire year in just a few minutes, or approach the piece to focus on a particular day. I also need to purchase additional computer and video hardware to support the display, and make improvements to my camera system.
With this display built, I will be able to bring A History of the Sky to a wide variety of events, so that it can be seen by the widest possible audience.
If you're in the San Francisco Bay Area, there are some opportunities to see "A History of the Sky" in its current state. Upcoming events include Yuri's Night at the NASA Ames Research Center (April 9-10), the Google I/O conference "After Party" at Moscone West in San Francisco (May 19), and the Bay Area Maker Faire (May 22-23). Past showings include a temporary exhibit at the Exploratorium, the Television of Tomorrow conference at the Yerba Buna Center for the Arts in San Francisco, and at the Life Science Centre Planetarium in Newcastle, UK.
More information about this project, including longer movies and technical details, can be found here:
FAQ
Have a question? If the info above doesn't help, you can ask the project creator directly.
52
Backers
$3,578
pledged of $3,000 goal
0
seconds to go
Funding Successful
This project successfully raised its funding goal on June 18, 2010.
Pledge $5 or more
A postcard featuring still images from "A History of the Sky," thanking you for your support.
Pledge $15 or more
"A History of the Sky" screensaver. I'll send you a link to download a screensaver that cycles through a recent series of time-lapse movies of the sky. It's a miniature version of the final piece!
Pledge $25 or more
A unique 5" by 7" printed digital still from "A History of the Sky," mounted on an 8" by 10" matte. Each print is a one-of-a-kind mosaic of images of the sky, individually selected by the artist. The print will be signed and labeled to indicate the range of dates and exact time-of-day shown in the images. Also included: Five "A History of the Sky" postcards to send to your friends, and the screensaver (see above). Also included: Five "A History of the Sky" postcards to send to your friends, and the screensaver (see above).
Pledge $50 or more
A unique 8" by 10" printed digital still from "A History of the Sky," mounted on an 11" by 14" matte. Each print is a one-of-a-kind mosaic of images of the sky, individually selected by the artist. The print will be signed and labeled to indicate the range of dates and exact time-of-day shown in the images. Also included: Five "A History of the Sky" postcards to send to your friends, and the screensaver (see above). Also included: Five "A History of the Sky" postcards to send to your friends, and the screensever (see above).
Project By
Connected as Ken Murphy (325 friends)
Ken Murphy is a musician, programmer, artist, and tinkerer living in San Francisco. Ken's past creations include Blinkybugs: simple, electronic insects that respond to their environment by blinking their LED eyes. He has written for Popular Science and Make Magazine, and is currently working on a childrens book and kit featuring his Blinkybugs. By day, he helps keep the website for his local public broadcasting station humming along.
