Tick-tock goes the Corpus Clock. A strange sound accompanies its rhythmic pulse. A grinding a whirring. A metallic whisper. Right here before you stands this masterpiece. This isn’t your average town clock.
The Corpus Clock isn’t just a timepiece. It’s a sculpture. A work of art. It’s located on the Taylor Library at Corpus Christi College in Cambridge. John C Taylor funded this intriguing creation. It was unveiled in 2008 by the renowned Stephen Hawking. Time magazine even named it one of the best inventions that year.
Look closely. The clock face is a rippling disc of gold-plated steel. About 1.5 meters in diameter. There are no hands. No numbers. Instead three concentric rings of LEDs display the hours minutes and seconds. The light seems to dance across the surface.
Dominating the scene is the Chronophage. This is no ordinary clockwork mechanism. It’s a metal insect a grasshopper or locust. Its jaws move. It appears to eat the seconds as they pass. It even blinks. The Chronophage makes an unsettling grinding sound. It perfectly suits its macabre task. The hour is struck by a chain clanking in a wooden coffin hidden inside. Students affectionately call it Rosalind or Hopsy.
Below the clock a Latin inscription reads mundus transit et concupiscentia eius. It means “the world passeth away and the lust thereof”. This chilling message adds to the clock’s overall unsettling effect.
The Corpus Clock is famously inaccurate. Except once every five minutes. Its erratic movements are intentional. John Taylor believes this irregularity mirrors the irregularities of life. The clock is hypnotically beautiful and deeply disturbing all at once.
The clock is a marvel of engineering. It features the world’s largest grasshopper escapement. This mechanism converts pendulum motion into rotational motion. It’s a homage to 18th-century clockmaker John Harrison. Taylor cleverly turned the mechanism inside out. The escapement is the clock’s defining feature. The whole intricate mechanism is driven mechanically. Electricity powers only the motor and the LEDs.
The Corpus Clock is designed to last. At least two hundred years. It’s a testament to human ingenuity. It’s also a stark reminder of time’s relentless march. Time that the Chronophage hungrily devours. A mesmerizing and disturbing symbol of mortality. Never forget the passage of time.