cwwang.com » Objects

Blockhead Stem

che-wei wang — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 04:53:26 +0000

Blockhead Stem, designed by cw&t. Now on sale at cwandt.com/blockhead-stem

Thermal Clock

che-wei wang — Wed, 06 May 2009 04:02:02 +0000

We rely heavily on our vision to identify change. We see sand accumulating at the bottom of the hourglass. We see the minute hand rotate clockwise. How would our sense of time change if we cast time to another sense?

Thermal Clock is a timepiece that positions heat along a bar over a 24 hour cycle to tell time.

Using an array of peltier junctions, heat is emitted from a focused area moving from left to right along the bar over the course of a day.

Thermal Clock from che-wei wang on Vimeo.

Counting to a Billion

che-wei wang — Tue, 05 May 2009 22:02:09 +0000

As a child, I remember challenging myself to count to 1000, 1 million, or 1 billion. I don’t think I ever made it.
Why do we aimlessly count? How long would it take to count to a billion?

Counting to a Billion is a device created to fulfill the desire to count. The electronics consists of a microcontroller, a speech module, and a speaker powered by a rechargeable battery. There is no/off switch. The voice will keep counting when the device is unplugged and if the battery is drained, the count will pick up where it left off when the battery recharges. The voice begins counting at one, two, three and continues counting up until it reaches one billion at which point in time it will stop.

If it took a second to utter each string of numbers, it would take 1 billion seconds or 31.7 years for the device to reach its end. But since it takes more than a second to vocalize many of the numbers in the sequence, it may take upwards of 60 years to complete.

The unit is housed in a solid block of aluminum, cnc milled into a vessel that was designed to withstand substantial abuse over many years.

Counting to a Billion is for sale as an edition of 5.

Materials: Aluminum, custom electronics
Dimensions: 4” (10cm) diameter, 6” (15cm) height, freestanding

Counting to a Billion from che-wei wang on Vimeo.

3.16 Billion Cycles

che-wei wang — Tue, 05 May 2009 20:41:10 +0000

Can we watch decay? Can we see glass as a fluid slowly slumping and deforming over time?
Everything is in constant flux, yet we consider many things around us static and fixed. 3.16 Billion Cycles is an attempt to unravel a seemingly unchanging 100 years into a set of relationships in digestible increments.

A 60 rpm (revolutions per minute) motor drives the entire mechanism. It rotates once every second. The following pulley rotates once every 5 seconds (1:5 ratio). The next rotates once every 60 seconds or 1 minute. Then 5 minutes, 1 hour, 1 day, 1 month, 1 year, and 1 decade. The decade wheel carries the load of the large arc. The large arc rotates once every century. The final ratio between the 60 rpm motor and the large arc is approximately 1:31.6 billion.

Each wheel is marked with a black nut to highlight a position that could be tracked over time. Along the arc, 100 lines mark the divisions of each passing year. When the clock finally reaches the end of a 100 year cycle, the arc falls off its track onto the floor.

3.16 Billion Cycles is for sale as an edition of 5.

Materials:Aluminum, AC sync motor, rubber belts.
Dimensions: 46” diameter (107cm), 6” (15cm) deep, wall mouted

3.16 Billion Cycles from che-wei wang on Vimeo.

Special thanks to Julian LaVerdiere, Jessica Banks, Andrew Laska, Dustyn Roberts, Kevin Slavin, Al Zuger, and Milgo Bufkin for all their help.

1 Hour Sprocket Clock

che-wei wang — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 00:33:12 +0000

How accurate does a clock need to be? Most household clocks display time with 3 mechanical movements; the hour, on a 12 hour cycle; minutes past the hour; and seconds past the minute. How crucial is it for us to know how many seconds are past the minute? Do we need to know the exact number of minutes past the hour?

One Hour Sprocket is a wall-mounted 12 hour clock with a 60 tooth sprocket attached to a motor, completing one revolution every hour. From the sprocket hangs a chain that consists of 720 links. Each link accounts for every minute of a 12 hour cycle. Among the black chain links is one polished stainless steel link to identify the position of the hour past 12 o’clock. To tell time one can estimate the position of the “hour hand” or count the number of links from the polished link to the top of the clock for a more accurate reading.

Between two 1/4” steel plates, sits a stepper motor, which ticks every 18 seconds. The hanging chain jiggles with each tick reassuring the clock’s functionality.

1 Hour Sprocket Clock is for sale as an edition of 20

Thermochromic Slow Resolution Display

che-wei wang — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 01:33:41 +0000

A slow resolution display made out of standard lightbulbs and thermochromic paint.

This display lives at the intersection of digital control and analog output. A matrix of lightbulbs painted with thermochromic paint allows for an image to appear and dissipate analogously to the temperature of each bulb.

The overall effect defies our ordinary understanding of materials and time within technological systems.
In this case, lightbulbs are used for heat and not light. And the refresh rate of an image is constrained to the time it takes for the material of the screen to change temperature.

One Brass Knuckle

che-wei wang — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 23:22:40 +0000

Brass knuckles for just one knuckle
Polished stainless steel and black enamel

Nandalow

che-wei wang — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 14:43:46 +0000

なんだろう coming to Tokyo. August 2008.

Dreyfuss Bluetooth Handset

che-wei wang — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 16:22:34 +0000

This is a one-off hack to retrofit a genuine Western Electric Dreyfuss Telephone Handset into a full fledged Bluetooth handset. A single button at the center of the mouthpiece controls all the functions (pairing, answering calls, etc.), while a blue and red LED indicator glows from within. The handset recharges via USB and lasts 6 hours in active talk-time and 110 hours in standby mode.

Compass on Wrist 2

che-wei wang — Tue, 20 May 2008 04:15:19 +0000

Suunto compass re attached to a custom leather strap.