On March 17, 2020, the day New York City entered citywide lockdown and a shelter-in-place order was issued in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, I began composing a diary and almanac to chronicle this unprecedented period. The work consists of drawing of each night’s moon phase as well as other astronomical observations as a way to record my experience of this time through celestial events. The project concluded on September 7, 2022, when the governor announced the lifting of mask mandates in New York City.
Spanning 904 days, the almanac comprises 1,347 detailed drawings of the moon and sky, rendered in graphite and micronized silver on natural indigo-dyed paper. It also includes a dictionary of 1,134 Japanese terms related to the moon and celestial phenomena. The structure of the work follows the 72 microseasons, an ancient lunar calendar that marks subtle seasonal shifts in nature. This calendar divides the year into intervals of five to six days, beginning each February.
