Perspective Clocks - Time Design With A Difference

The Perspective series are five clocks composed of straight lines, each demonstrating a different approach to the dimension of time.

Tel Aviv-based Studio Ve is comprised of Shay Carmon and Ben Klinger, two young men who like exploring objects and their conception—whether it's a Two Leg Table or a Toast-ER that "revives" sad bread. More recently they've been experimenting with clocks, and their previous Manifold and Lithe designs—both successfully funded through Kickstarter—challenge the way users read and perceive changes in time.

This time around, they've brainstormed not one but five new clocks, dubbed the "Perspective" series. "Each clock is a whole different story—production-wise, size-wise, and even customer-wise," Klinger tells Cool Hunting. "Some people are systematic, approaching challenges step by step. Other view things from different angles, while some people focus directly on the target." The resulting clocks cater to different personalities.

The D Clock, or "Different Angles," for example, reminds us that in our three-dimensional world, objects look different based on our point of view. Looking straight ahead, the clock has linear hands, but from the side, the hands expand into shapes. The most unusual part is the way the three hands interact—they're sized so that they can pass through one another.

The Z Clock, or "Wander Around" is equally appealing. Because the hands are bent into arrow shapes, the lines overlap frequently and strike numerous poses (at a specific time, they form a "Z"—hence the name) throughout the hour. In the one hour time-lapse, their sweeping movement resembles a beautifully choreographed dance.

The K Clock, or "Systematic Movement" has two complex assemblies of straight lines for the hour and minute hands. The lines converge to a point that represents the location of the hand. In the course of one hour, each endpoint of one hand connects to each endpoint of the other. These encounters recur 143 times in a full cycle of the clock.

P Clock, or "Burst from Inside" displays time as a complex three dimensional composition, bursting from the center. The hands are outline of 3D prisms that go beyond the regular face plane. The base of the P clock is cone-shaped in order to house the hands.

V Clock, or "Focus on Target" uses vanishing points, this clock gives the viewer two focal points - the hour and the minute. Artists in the renaissance period developed the vanishing points as a tool to represent the world with perspective.

"This series is an indirect descendent of our previous clock designs. We used metal rods in the Manifold & Lithe clocks. This material is available in our studio, so one day we just played with compositions using this material only and created 20 different versions of clocks. Then we selected the five we liked best," says Klinger. "When we made the transition from design to production, we changed the hands’ material to ABS, but the basic idea remains. This is because of the force the metal formations put on the movement."

"The perception of time is an evolving concept. It started way back when people used the sun to tell time. Sometime along this evolution, with the appearance of the digital watches, time became less experiential," says Klinger. "I think that today there’s a clear division of time perception—analog clocks are becoming objects with meaning, while digital time is just another piece of data. Our main objective when we design a clock is not to make it easy to read, but rather to surprise and rejuvenate as time passes." While a smartphone only requires a quick glance, the "Perspective" Clocks are meant to be stared and studied.

Check out their fully funded Kickstarter Campaign Page here or head to www.studiove.com

Images courtesy of Studio Ve

Article by Nara Shin via Cool Hunting