We can feel the passage of time as we watch the sun chart its course across the sky. But we have also become accustomed to the daily arc of our closest star. To bring the movement of the sun — and the progression of time — into the foreground, Indian street artist Daku leveraged the sun’s shadow-casting power to create a temporary installation — Theories of Time — for the St+art India art festival along a commercial street in Panjim, Goa.

A street-long awning holds up stenciled adages that project shadows forming a tapestry of words on the ground: “Things take time; time is a great teacher; time heals all wounds; lost time is never found again.”


Light, shadow, and words figure in earlier works as well. In 2016, Daku created Time Changes Everything, installing words on the side of a white-faced building, letting the movement of the sun form and then slowly disintegrate words like ability, hour, definition.
The artist seems to enjoy incorporating surprising words and sentiments into the built environment — in particular humorous messages aimed at motorists.


Daku’s shadow-casting artwork adds an interesting layer to the streetscape and offers an approach filled with possibilities for other public spaces.
Reblogged this on Mental Flowers and commented:
Art is an important part of a community’s landscape. It stops and makes us reconsider the environment and structures around us.