Sarah Sze: Shorter than the Day: La Guardia Airport, New York

Appearing to float in midair, this monumental spherical installation by New York-based artist Sarah Sze evokes the passage of time through an intricate constellation of hundreds of photographs. Each one captures a snapshot of the sky above New York City taken over the course of a day. Collectively, they chart a cyclical journey from the yellow of dawn to the blues of daylight, through sunset’s orange, and midnight’s violet. Sze’s globe is irregular and reveals more of itself as we move around it.

The title Shorter than the Day is a meditation on permanence and transience that embodies the essence of the Emily Dickinson poem for which it is named. Sze gives form to the idea expressed in the poem’s evocative line: “We passed the Setting Sun– / Or rather–He passed Us–” The work is viewable from the Departures level and extends through a cutout in the floor down to the Arrivals level baggage claim where it appears to float above viewers’ heads.