Clocks

Create a p5.js-based animation that responds to time. Using p5’s time-related functions, make an abstract clock that changes as time passes. Use at least three of the following functions to represent three sub-divisions of time:

• day()
• hour()
• minute()
• millis()
• month()
• second()
• year()

Your clock can keep track of typical increments of time (hours, minutes and seconds) or longer periods of time like days, weeks, months and years. Crucially, your clock should not look like a typical clock. What other ways can we conceive of keeping track of time that don’t resemble a standard digital or analog clock? Your clock doesn’t need to be conventionally “readable” but should present the passage of time through creative expression. How can you convey time in terms of its personal significance? How can time be conveyed in a less structured, more expressive way? What aspects of time’s passing can be represented through p5 (the sun and moon rising, for instance, or periods of sleep, wakefulness, peace and chaos)? Consider these questions and come up with a concept by making sketches first on paper or in a digital drawing program, then translate your prototypes into code. Describe your process in your readme file.

Here are some examples of abstract clocks created using p5.js and other web-based coding tools:

• Golan Levin’s Banded Clock (1999)
• Eliza Pratt’s Coded Clocks
• Tageszeituhr by Benedikt Hassert
• The Colour Clock
• PolarClock
• The Clock of the Long Now