Photos

Corpus Christi Clock,

The Corpus Clock is a large sculptural clock on the outside of the Taylor Library at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. It was conceived and funded by John C. Taylor, an old member of the college.
The clock's face is a rippling 24-carat gold-plated stainless steel disc, about 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) in diameter. It has no hands or numbers, but displays the time by opening individual slits in the clock face backlit with blue LEDs; these slits are arranged in three concentric rings displaying hours, minutes, and seconds.

The dominating visual feature of the clock is a sculpture of a grim-looking, devouring, metal insect similar to a grasshopper or locust. The sculpture is actually the clock's escapement (see below). Taylor calls this beast the Chronophage (literally "time eater", from the Greek χρόνος [chronos] time, and φαγω [phago] I eat). It moves its mouth, appearing to "eat up" the seconds as they pass, and occasionally it "blinks" in seeming satisfaction.
The creature's constant motion produces an eerie grinding sound that suits its task.

Below the clock is an inscription from the Vulgate 1 John 2:17:

mundus transit et concupiscentia eius
("the world passeth away, and the lust thereof").