jaekeun lee’s spiral calendar of globe-like beads reimagines time as circular motion

the spiral timepiece structures how we sense time

Jaekeun Lee’s Spiral Timepiece, a 12-month calendar, approaches time not through conventional grids or linear progression, but through a spiral form that allows for both return and change. As the first installment of the ongoing project Provisional Tempo, it presents a visual and conceptual alternative to standardized temporal structures. Each month is represented by a rendered image of earth-like beads arranged along a spiral curve. The form suggests cyclical motion, but subtle variations in spacing, lighting, and elevation reflect the idea that no moment is simply repeated. In this work, time is not measured in fixed units, but traced through movement, difference, and atmosphere.

May 2025 | all images courtesy of Jaekeun Lee

jaekeun Lee translates earth & cloud visuals from nasa dataset

The images of the Spiral Timepiece are 3D-rendered compositions constructed from both procedural modeling and photographic textures. Particularly, Jaekeun Lee has derived earth and cloud visuals derived from NASA’s Blue Marble dataset, with month-specific versions applied individually to each globe. Arranged in a spiral that progresses clockwise, the entire structure rotates slightly each month around its central axis. A gravitational gradient runs through, depicted by increasing curvature and compression toward the center, where orbits tighten, and mass appears to intensify. The designer has also randomized the rotational axis of each globe, introducing variation within the overall continuity of the system.

The earth-like beads appear in three variations: one version includes the year along the equator and the month number at the poles; another uses nighttime satellite imagery to mark January 1st and all Sundays as holidays; the third represents regular weekdays. These variants are distributed across the spiral according to their temporal function.

June 2025 | the orientation of each globe shifts monthly, alternating between left-leaning, right-leaning, and upright

the calendar unfolds in a recurring, non-linear rhythm

The spiral of Jaekeun Lee’s calendar operates here not as surface ornament but as an underlying structure, inviting us to reimagine time — not as a straight line to be followed, but as a rhythm unfolding in recurring motion, with difference. It departs from the linear directionality that presumes a defined beginning and end, and from the closed loop that assumes static repetition. The spiral instead allows for a layered temporality — one that revisits familiar points without returning to the same state.

The earth, too, serves as both a visual anchor and a reflection of our temporal condition, and it refers to the world we inhabit and to ourselves, situated between a determined past and an unknown future, requiring a broader field of attention to hold them together. Each year, at the end of December, the Spiral Timepiece is updated and made available as a downloadable set of high-resolution images through the project’s website.

November 2025 | the composition expands gradually as the spiral moves toward the year’s end

aekeun Lee’s Spiral Timepiece calendar approaches time through a spiral form

representing the shift from 2025 to 2026

January 2025

12-month polar view of globes displaying year and month markers, with January showing the widest snow coverage

close-up views of weekday and holiday globe variations

three globe variations feature numerals placed over the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic Oceans, spaced at 120-degree intervals

project info:

name: The Spiral Timepiece
designer: Jaekeun Lee | @provisionaltempo

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: ravail khan | designboom

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