Moon Almanac
Miya Ando’s Moon Almanac constructs a calendar of the pandemic not through dates or events, but through nightly drawings of the moon. Each drawing is titled with a nuanced Japanese term—many without English equivalents—using observation, language, and natural dye to reimagine time itself.
The series comprises 1,347 drawings and a lexicon of 1,134 translated Japanese terms related to the moon and natural phenomena. Created during the COVID-19 lockdown in New York City, it spans 904 consecutive nights—from March 17, 2020, when shelter-in-place began, to September 7, 2022, when statewide mask mandates were lifted. Each drawing records the moon’s phase alongside celestial events such as eclipses and meteor showers, forming an almanac grounded in sustained attention.
Structured by the traditional Japanese 72 microseason calendar, the work articulates a cyclical, perception-based system of time—rooted in impermanence rather than aligned with the standardized Gregorian model. The lexicon’s terms, while translated, often remain lexical lacunae: concepts with no true English equivalent. Each anchors its drawing not through direct correspondence, but by treating language as a way of perceiving the world.
Executed in natural indigo and micronized silver on washi or Hahnemühle paper, the drawings register time through dye. Indigo—one of only two botanical blue dyes, alongside woad—acts as a chromatic clock: the darker the hue, the longer the contact with the dye.