The gold-plated ’Midsummer Chronophage’ measures 1.5 metres (5 ft) in diameter, and was conceived, designed and mostly manufactured in the island.
It is the second in a series of four unique timepieces that tell the time through a series of concentric circles of light.
The outer circle shows the seconds, the middle circle the minutes and the inner circle the hours.
Dr Taylor said: ’Following residencies in Edinburgh and Cambridge, the Midsummer Chronophage has returned to the island so that it may be seen and enjoyed by the Manx public.
’I’m grateful to Douglas town manager Oliver Cheshire and Mayor Jon Joughin, for finding such a wonderful location for the clock to be displayed until Midsummer’s Day in June.
’Clocks generally are boring and I never like to do anything that anybody else has done before. So, when it came to design the clock for Corpus Christi College (at Cambridge University), we needed something that was different and I wanted this to entertain.
’So, while you’re watching the Midsummer Chronophage clock, it may stop and run backwards.
’You can see the seconds racing around on the outside and on the 59th second of every minute, the Chronophage goes ’ugh’, gets that minute, swallows it and then you can never get it back.
’When you’re in your 80s, time is not on your side.
’You have to make use of every minute because if you don’t, the Chronophage will have eaten it and then you’ve wasted it.
’So, the message is use every minute, look forward and use the time that you’ve got to your best advantage.’
1886 director Diane Gallagher said: ’We’re delighted and honoured that our venue was chosen to display such a fabulous piece of engineering and art.
’I hope that the people of the island enjoy having it in the centre of Douglas as much we do.’