Our experience of the seasons is one that no longer needs to be mediated by the antiquated Gregorian calendar. The San Francisco-based theater troop Antenna has created an ECOlogical calendar (Pomegranate Communications, $14.99) that follows the seasons of the year from each equinox to solstice or vice-versa. Following the scientific timeline that places the universe at an age of 13.7 billion years, this artistic depiction of 2005 represents the lunar phases, the ebb and flow of tides, the ratio of sunlight to darkness, the positions of stars and planets depending on the time of year, and the behavior of vegetation and animal life. Time is compartmentalized in the linear, arbitrary calendar that is most widely used today. The grid of months to days has become a reminder of where we are meant to be at every moment, denoting bank closures and Hallmark holidays, as opposed to this fluid conceptualization illustrating that we are creatures of this planet as well. At a time when many of us are bound to man-made constructs, this work depicts a more natural sense of time, placing us in the midst of the organic rhythm of our Earth.
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