372.5 ~ Howth is a kinetic sculpture by Irish artist Kerrie O’Leary that visualises the silent choreography of water during a single tidal period — 372.5 minutes, or just over six hours. Drawing on tidal charts from her hometown of Howth, Dublin, the installation uses a system of pulleys and counterweights inspired by historical methods of tidal measurement to recreate the sea’s present-day behaviour.
This work continues O’Leary’s exploration into hyperobjects — vast, distributed phenomena like climate systems that defy easy comprehension. By transforming abstract tidal data into slow, physical motion, she gives weight and rhythm to the otherwise imperceptible flows of time, gravity, and water.
Having grown up beside the sea, O’Leary’s personal experience of tidal shifts — through sailing, swimming, and paddleboarding — informs the work’s emotional resonance. It reflects not just a scientific curiosity but an embodied relationship with water.
Here, the sea is not simply a landscape or backdrop, but an active agent — a vast, sentient system under constant prediction and observation. Through its subtle mechanics and measured movement, 372.5 ~ Howth invites audiences to consider the unseen forces that shape our world and the technologies we use to trace them.
