Splendor Solis is the title of one of the most famous modern alchemical treatises. The sculpture I designed combines a traditional, almost archaic idea with a minimalist form, close to the 20th century avant-garde. The aesthetics of the resulting object may bring to mind both ancient astronomical models and Marcel Duchamp's spinning discs.

I decided to prepare a mould that imitates a sundial. Imitating - because it is not an ordinary sundial, if only because of the material used. The black concrete of which the sundial's face is to be made opposes and absorbs the light. Splendor Solis is a work based on contrasts. During the realisation of the sculpture, the precise graphic design will clash with the formless mass of concrete, and the finished geometric form will in turn clash with the natural surroundings.

Jakub Woynarowski