Sun: A Triptych for the Solar Eclipse

Sun is based on the same functional logic as the ancient Antikythera Mechanism.

It explores how eclipse calculation models function when constructed from language, using syntactic rules instead of physical components, and displaying a system-poem instead of numeric data.

Sun corresponds numerically to Saros 126, a sequence of 72 solar eclipses spanning the years 1179 to 2459.

A restricted ten-word vocabulary programmatically generates an exact number of text combinations.

The Triptych Prolog program outputs one unique text variant for every eclipse in the historical sequence, along with the specific date for each 72 solar eclipses.

Inspired by Howard Russell Butler’s 1920s eclipse paintings, three video sequences, Aperture, Augury, and Apparition, display visual elements.

Sun corrects a grammatical limitation present in a 2011 precursor.