What Is Moon Calendar by Soo Youn Kim?

Moon Calendar is an artistic system developed by Soo Youn Kim that visualizes the passage of time based on the movement of the sun and moon. Using 365 circular diagrams, this work records the sun and moonrise/set times of each day, dividing them into distinct color-coded segments that reflect the cyclical rhythm of nature.

Each diagram reveals the shifting pattern of light and shadow across the year, representing the movement of celestial bodies in a structured yet poetic form.

Beyond its visual form, this work also integrates sound by applying the Circle of Fifths. Each hour is mapped onto an octave scale, allowing time to be perceived not only visually but also aurally. A unique instrument (timbre) is assigned to each month, shaping the tonal atmosphere over time.

An Artistic Calendar that Records Time

Each image reflects how time can be perceived through both light and sound, capturing tonal and visual transitions across different moments of the day.

These diagrams are not merely visual records—they translate time into abstract forms of color, tone, and rhythm, shaping a synesthetic calendar experience.

By experiencing Moon Calendar, viewers engage with time as both a structured system and an immersive, multi-sensory phenomenon.

Visual Elements – Structuring Time as a Calendar

• 365 circular diagrams come together to create a calendar that records the movements of the sun and moon over the course of a year.

• Each circle represents one day and is divided into 24 hours, marking four key moments:

• Sunrise, Sunset, Moonrise, and Moonset

• Based on the collected data, each circle is divided into four distinct areas, with each time segment represented by a specific color:

• Gold/Yellow → Nighttime when only the moon is visible

• Black → Nighttime when neither the sun nor the moon is visible

• White (unpainted area) → Daytime when both the sun and moon are present

• Various Colors → Daytime when only the sun is visible (seasonal variations)

• The arrangement of the 365 circles follows a structured system:

• Along the central vertical axis, the full moon days are positioned

• Towards the edges, the cycle shifts toward the new moon

• Through this structure, Moon Calendar offers an alternative concept of time measurement, capturing the rhythmic movements of the sun and moon.

Beyond its visual representation, this work incorporates a system that converts time data into sound. By applying the musical theory of the Circle of Fifths, the 24-hour day is mapped onto an 8-note octave scale, allowing tonal progressions to shift gradually over time.

Instead of composing music in a conventional way, I assigned a unique instrument (timbre) to each month, based on how I perceive its character, within the music generated from the sun and moon data, allowing each month to have its own distinct tonal atmosphere.

Through this system, time is not only visually represented but also experienced aurally, offering a multisensory perception of its flow.