Sculptor turns

craft into art

RAY SAUNDERS has
nothing but time on his
hands.

The Vancouver clock
sculptor is at it again: turn-
ing the passage of time into
visual art.

After 15 years mired in the
cogs and pendulums of Fa-
ther Time, Saunders kas
justifiably risen beyond
horology.

“Tam as much a sculptor
as a clockmaker,’’ Saunders
says. “‘I am an artist first
and foremost.”

Perhaps best know for the
Gastown steam clock which
he designed and built in
1977, Saunders, as always, is
looking to top his past chro-
nological achievements.

LASER

Currently on Saunders’
drawing board is a laser
clock scheduled to be built in
conjunction .with the North
Vancouver engineering firm
of Reid Crowther and Part-
ners Ltd. for Vancouver’s
Centennial celebrations, The
clock, if and when it is
finished, will be the first of
its kind. .

The proposed clock,
Saunders says, will be a 25-
foot high free-standing unit
with four faces. Its clock
mechanism will, like Van-

couver itself, be an-

overhauled 1886 vintage.
The clock’s technology will

allow it to give the time of
day via skyward bound laser
beams.

BEAMS

The pulsating beams will
be capable of displaying the
time of day to more people
at any one time than any
clock has done before, ac-
cording to Saunders.
Through its coraputer con-
trolled laser projector, the
clock’s beam will be able to
project special effects rang-
ing from line graphics to
full-blown laser light
displays.

Synchronized lighting will
be directed from four corner
finials in the clock's roof.
These beams will represent
the clock’s time lights and
will light up in sequence as
the clock’s Westminster
chimes sound on the quarter
hour through weatherproof
loudspeakers.

WORKINGS

For those beholding the
Saunders’ horological
wonders at more intimate
ranges, its inner workings
will feature 100 abstract
bronze and copper figurines
performing a variety of
clockwork tasks.

The gravity-powered clock
winding system weights will
each be designed with
miniature cargo containers
labeled with examples of
commodities that originate
from the Port of Vancouver.

The main electrical com-

puter power and water sup-
plies for the clock will be
located in a room adjacent
to the clock's eventual site.

FANTASTIC

Mike Maughan, manager

" of Reid Crowther’s electrical

division, says the clock, if
and when it is built, ‘‘will be
a fantastic thing for Van-
couver.”’

Saunders says his clock
will cost approximatey
$300,000. Thus far, the pro-
ject is still in the proposal
stage with Saunders trying to
taise financial backing and
Vancouver Centennial
Committee endorsement.

For Saunders, the laser
clock would be another first
for a man driven by the
possibilities and beauty of.
creating bizarre and unique
mechanical time pieces.

“I like to say that my cre-
ations are works of art and
art that works.”

Despite his fixation with
time, the advent of digital
clocks does not interest
Saunders. As a way of
marking time, digital’s days
are numbered, he says.

“With a traditional round
clock face, people can see
time past and time coming,”’
Saunders says, ‘‘with digital
all you see is the precise
moment. That might ‘be
good for launching rockets,
but 1 don’t think it’s a good
way of keeping time for the
everyday person. Guaran-
teed, people will get tired of
digital.”’

call & register now

“ASun gid Higa Cm Paxman

RAY SAUNDERS, clock
designer, examines one of
his many designs. This
scale model has an il-

luminated interior, and:

when complete, could
have laser beams directed
out of the top.

1844 marine dr.
west van

925-3311

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