Olle Essvik’s Sunclock is a lamp that tracks the sun’s movement in the sky and follows it. When the sun rises in the morning the light bulb starts with nearly no light at all, intensifying every second, shining brightest in middle of the day. After this the light begins to fade with the sun, appearing dimmest at sunset.

Now what’s interesting is that the work has also an internet and a mobile phone version.

The net one is coded specific for a geographical location. A yellow field moves on the computer screen, reflecting the sun movements in the sky. Of course the movement can hardly be seen. When the sun rises a yellow field starts to move. At mid-day the whole screen is yellow.

The mobile version functions like the net version, only on a phone screen. Download it.

Being exposed to so many Wam bam installation you have to punch, kick, slap or stroke to interact with, i’m more and more drawn to quiet works that have a life of their own. The mobile version and the net version of the Sunclock will be exhibited at Threshold in Perth, October 2006. (via spectre mailing list)

See also one of my favourite installations ever: Perpetual (tropical) Sunshine, a screen made of 300 150W infrared light bulbs that transposes the real-time state of the summer sun on the 23rd South parallel.

More light bulbs: a levitating one; Touch-sensitive water lights; Talking lights; The acoustic properties of lightbulbs.