Water drops regularly in an ancient wisdom temple. This sculpture, placed conveniently in the Satori Culture Center’s Reading Room, helps cultivate wisdom and peaceful focus of its inhabitants, through its consistent sound and overall noble presence. A drop of water falling from the center of the upper basin onto the water surface of the lower basin creates a concentric wave movement to the edge of the basin and back again.
An unrealized and alternate version of this work was encountered at a library in Berlin, the Staatsbibliothek, titled Schweige Skulptur (Wassertropfen) by Günther Ueckerat (1981). The original sculpture’s title in German translates to “Silent Sculpture (Water Drop),” but in this iteration a consistent sound is heard. Additionally, the original sculpture has six pillars, but in this iteration, there are seven, referring to the “wisdom temple” from Proverbs 9:1, “Wisdom has built her house; / she has set up its seven pillars.”
The work also serves as a “water clock,” which were among the earliest timekeeping devices that didn’t rely on observing celestial bodies. Water clocks were vessels that had a small hole from which water dripped steadily and constantly. The water levels could then be measured so that the passage of time could be understood.
