World famous Corpus Clock: A time piece and a haunting work of art

Situated right in the heart of Cambridge, the Corpus Clock is a beauty combining art and horology that takes everyone spellbound. And while it is uncommon for any clock to do so, the Corpus Clock features an eerie creature that is an icon that speaks of how time never stops moving. Designed after the most famous phenomenon of the universe, it has unique light rings that show time without hands and numbers. This clock is accompanied by gothic sounds, conjuring deep reflections on the passage of time and mortality.

A ripple in time

The design of the Big Bang-inspired clock comes from the world of physics, where ripples spread out from a central axis, from the origin of time. This is a subtle yet profound reminder of the origins of the universe, this makes the clock not only a timekeeper but also a storyteller about the cosmos.


The chronophage: The time eater

Sitting on the side of this clock is an unexpected and even somewhat an alien creature, the Chronophage, or as its name suggests, "time-eater." This grasshopperish creature merely snaps its mouth shut every minute, marking the eating away of time as it relentlessly moves forward. Extremely riveting yet disturbing, this scene leaves one to remember the implacable motion of time.



A bizarre showpiece

This is probably the most conspicuous feature of the Corpus Clock: it does not apply conventional numbers or pointers with digits. Instead, it makes use of three concentric rings of LEDs to display hours, minutes, and seconds in a way that challenges the viewers on how they may have perceived and read time previously. This has added to the mystique of the Corpus and has attracted several tourists around the globe.


The sound of passing time

The clock doesn't call out to every passing hour with jarring chimes or a ringing bell, but instead makes pitifully dreadful rattling chains and hammer pounding on a wooden coffin, all symbolising the motif of mortality and time. Thai ahrsh reality is pointed by the Latin inscription on its base: "Mundus transit et concupiscentia eius," which means, "The world and its desires pass away."


What makes the clock gothic?
The Chronophage which sits atop the clock makes it look eerie and mysterious. It is based on the concept of John Harrison's grasshopper escapement of 1725, a mechanical invention that greatly improved the accuracy of pendulum clocks. In this way, the Corpus Clock pays respects to those who advanced the nature of timekeeping as espoused in modern horology.

How did the clock come into being?