oculus

The American architect and artist created a contemplative moment with her two-part sculptural fountain: One stone lies flat as water bubbles up and over it, while an adjacent 11-foot-tall stone oculus emits a gentle mist.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026

A metal pendulum in “Diver” hangs from a string rigged just below the oculus into a kind of hippie Zen-garden arranged within the fountain.

From New York Times ● Apr. 6, 2023

At ground level, a circular port called an oculus will allow passersby to peer into a 325,000-gallon coral canyon teeming with thousands of fish and invertebrates.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 28, 2022

“I do not feel it appropriate to offer Architect of the Capitol approval for the oculus component.”

From Washington Post ● Aug. 31, 2022

I see her giving Addie the evil oculus every morning as Addie stands there, silent as dandruff and every bit as annoying.

From "The Misfits" by James Howe

“What’s interesting,” Dr. LaForce said, is that the facial muscle engaged by a genuine smile — what’s called the orbicularis oculi — can’t be used on command.

From New York Times ● Jun. 10, 2020

It requires contractions of the orbicularis oculi, the sphincter muscle surrounding the eye socket, which, Duchenne wrote, “is only put in play by the sweet emotions of the soul.”

From The New Yorker ● Jan. 5, 2015

The corneal reflex is contraction of the orbicularis oculi muscle to blink the eyelid when something touches the surface of the eye.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013

While a performed or deliberate smile requires just the zygomaticus major, the muscle around the mouth, “real” smiles involve both the lips and the muscles ringing the eyes, the orbicularis oculi.

From Slate ● Jun. 18, 2013

It is almost impossible to tighten the orbicularis oculi, pars orbitalis on demand, and it is equally difficult to stop it from tightening when we smile at something genuinely pleasurable.

From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell