Collaborator: Shannon Yang

Turn light into computation.

Because we don't know when we will die

We get to think of life as an inexhaustible well

Yet everything happens only a certain number of times

And a very small number, really

How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood

Some afternoon that is so deeply a part of your being that you can't even conceive your life without it?

Perhaps four or five times more

Perhaps not even that

How many more times will you watch the full moon rise?

Perhaps twenty, and yet it all seems limitless

— from Paul Bowels, The Sheltering Sky, 1949

Ryuichi Sakamoto - "fullmoon" (from "async")

This project is inspired by Ryuichi Sakamoto’s fullmoon, where vocals read Paul Bowels’s famous words in different languages resonates with human’s deep sentiment of mortality. Since I moved to NYC last year, I can’t recall the last time seeing a full moon. I’m either inside a building or in the shadow of a building. I want to make a small moon phase indicator powered by a solar panel that could remind the day of the full moon and encourage us to go out, see the moon arise, and see ourselves.

I also intend to make a slow tech device without dominant interaction or distracting daily habits. It is a small device that doesn’t need electricity or maintenance for 3-5 years. The only requirement is putting it near a window for charging through solar panel. The e-ink has a characteristic of silence, inconspicuous that refreshes once a day to change the moon phase, bringing a layer of connection with time and the natural cycle in daily life.

Fullmoon is a moon phase viewer powered by solar energy.

Sketch

BOM

Solar Panel

Open Circuit Voltage: 7.2V

Short Circuit Current: 0.06A