The Time Portal Built Into a Mountain | West to East

Overview

Charles Ross, after decades in the American Southwest, is nearing completion of Star Axis, a monumental, time-exploring art installation carved into a desert mountain. The project is designed around astronomical alignment with Polaris (the North Star) and Earth’s axial precession, using architecture to turn celestial motion into an embodied, spatial experience—a “time portal” where light and time feel interchangeable.

---

Artistic Techniques, Concepts, and Creative Process

Large-scale architectural sculpture as a time-based instrument

• A granite pyramid structure with:
  • a star tunnel
  • internal chambers aligned to Polaris and Earth’s axis
• The installation uses precise geometry so specific stair positions correspond to the apparent circular path of Polaris at different dates (past and future).

Celestial geometry → spatial design

• Star Axis is generated from the motion and geometry of Polaris and Earth’s 26,000-year precession cycle.
• The star tunnel is built parallel to Earth’s axis.
• Other elements reference related celestial features (such as the celestial equator and Earth’s rotation).

Embodied “whole-body” viewing of astronomical time

• Visitors ascend and descend 147 steps.
• As they move to the correct step for a given date, the sky changes accordingly.
• The experience is described less like calculation and more like walking through time.

Light-based art research influencing the worldview

Ross connects his broader artistic practice to the idea that light carries structure and meaning.

• Earlier works include:
  • Prisms
    • began from dream-like insight: a “vision” of how to build a large prism
  • a conceptual shift from dispersing light into a spectrum to focusing light into a point, then burning the sun’s path across surfaces
  • Solar burns
    • created by focusing sunlight through lenses
    • early burns left marks on a plank for months
    • a larger burn time is noted as 8 minutes 19 seconds (the stated time for sunlight to reach Earth)
• A guiding principle: “All of my work comes from light.”
  • Light is treated as a carrier of form/structure and meaning.

Process guided by intuition and recurring “mystical” prompts

• After an initial plan (staircase at the mountain edge and a steel ring framing Polaris), Ross describes a sustained mantra for 30 consecutive nights.
• This prompted a major redesign:
  • moving the stairs and star tunnel inside the mountain
  • adding approximately 15 years to construction.

Interpreting time through perception and consciousness

• The installation frames time as something you can feel:
  • a “sacred mystery” rather than purely measurable physics
• References to consciousness emphasize connection and recognition rather than strict scientific measurement.

---

Construction / Design Elements (Key Takeaways)

Star Axis key components

• 147 steps
  • used to “date” the Polaris circle size to specific years
• Star tunnel
  • aligned with Earth’s axis
• Internal chambers including:
  • Equatorial chamber
    • pointing toward the celestial equator
  • Hour chamber
    • frames 1 hour of Earth’s rotation
    • includes a triangular opening with Polaris positioned at the top
  • Shadow field
    • shaped by the annual movement of the solar pyramid’s shadow tip
• A granite pyramid planned at the top
  • includes a star-tunnel view toward Polaris and alignment

Dating logic

• Step position depends on the year because of axial precession.
• Comparisons noted:
  • different “today” step requirements vs. years like 263 BC and 96 AD
  • even centuries apart can shift the required step by “just one step.”
• The system is described as enabling dating approximately 13,000 years into the future and 13,000 years into the past via the 26,000-year cycle.

---

Documentary / Art Engagement and Research

Wendy Apple’s role

• Wendy Apple (documentary filmmaker and friend of Ross) investigates the devotion required to make such an internalized work.
• She visits and interviews within historically sky-oriented Indigenous contexts to reframe “lost orientation to the cosmos.”

Sky-oriented Indigenous contexts referenced

• Pueblo Bonito and Chaco Canyon ruins (Anasazi/Pueblo people)
  • including their sky-tracking calendars
• Interviews include:
  • Michael Zeilik (astronomer)
    • discussing astronomical methods for survival-linked calendars
  • Simon Ortiz (Acoma Pueblo poet)
    • describing the kiva’s north/polar orientation and sky knowledge as wayfinding and continuity

Film’s thematic argument

The documentary suggests reconnecting to celestial order can restore responsibility to planet and people.

---

Mentioned Contributors / Creators

• Charles Ross
• Wendy Apple
• Michael Zeilik
• Simon Ortiz