In August 2026, a total solar eclipse will cross continental Europe, first visible there since August 11th, 1999.
Sun is a triptych consisting of a system poem, which resolves a grammatical fault in a 2011 precursor, and three short video sequences: Aperture, Augury, and Apparition. The earlier version, I’d argue, is semantically richer; this one is grammatically cleaner.
The word eclipse comes from the Greek ekleipsis, “a leaving out.” Against that omission stands phaínesthai: to come into appearance.
Permutation
apertures / align / rhythmically
apparitions / emerge / recursively
auguries / thicken / vertically
now
These ten words generate 72 system variants across two syntactic orders: adverb-first and adverb-last.
Aperture
Apparition
Augury
Weighted letters: e·i → a·c·l·r·t·u → g·h·k·n·s·v·y · A2 (110 Hz)Prolegomena
In the Greek Orthodox tradition, icons function not merely as images but as “windows to heaven,” objects of veneration rather than simple representation. Triptychs (from Greek, three-fold) became highly popular during the Byzantine Empire (which was culturally and linguistically Greek) and remain a staple of Orthodox devotion today.
Originally, many triptychs were designed to be portable. Monks, nobility, and traveling merchants used them as personal, folding altars for private prayer while on the road.
The hinged side panels could close over the central panel, protecting the sacred central image from damage and dust during travel.
The 2026 eclipse belongs to Saros 126, a cycle of exactly 72 solar eclipses running from 1179 to 2459.
Each poem-line is sounded above a fixed A2 drone (110 Hz), each letter selecting a partial of the fundamental (alphabet position mod twelve), each partial weighted by the letter’s recurrence. Noun, then verb, then adverb.
The solar eclipse triptych by Howard Russell Butler (1856-1934) is a famous trio of paintings that capture the 1918 (Baker, Oregon), 1923 (Lompoc, California), and 1925 (Middletown, Connecticut) total solar eclipses with high scientific accuracy.
—
The core parts of Sun were initially created in response to The Wrong Eclipse curated by David Quiles Guilló.
