Check one of the latest art projects to come out of Holler Sydney: The Haeckel Clock (free install). Its unique art direction was inspired by the artistic work of an eminent German biologist, naturalist, philosopher called Ernst Haeckel. Around the turn of the last century he discovered, described and named thousands of new species and drew microscopic creatures with fascinating skill and detail.
Haeckel illustration
Holler’s Mike Hill, himself a zoologist and nature photographer before he entered the interactive agencyscape, is a big fan of Haeckel’s work.
The application is a pretty abstract clock that uses different sized balls to signify hours, minutes and seconds.
Hours floating together
Fittingly for such a scientifically-inspired piece the elements all adhere to the laws of gravity and have their own elastic coherence.
Hours, minutes and seconds separated
The modern genius behind this app is my frequent collaborator Lukasz Karluk, who developed the application in openFrameworks. He describes the project, its interface and technical detail here on his blog. Have a peek at the flow in his screen video and don’t forget to install this free clock on your iPad by going to the app store.
Disclaimer: I was only very partially involved in the clock’s design and development, mainly correcting any typos in German pieces of copy.
