Timeless

Timeless

A little gift of time

Introdution Maybe “Less is More” (Mis Van der Rohe), maybe time does not mean money, maybe chronology isn’t a condition of living time, maybe a clock should be a window to preceive nature and ourselves, a reminder that time is, indeed, movement, and finally, life.

In this document I’ll present the home assignment developed for Design Academy - Eindhoven.

The challenge was to design “A little gift of time” for

someone. I chose Teresa Chow, a close friend/colleague, to guideline and inspire my working process.

The object that I’ll present is the result of both her will and mine.

A symbioses between my product design skills and her own conception of time.

It’s Chow’s Time

Teresa Chow’s Profile Name Teresa Sofia Chow Soares de Carvalho

Her relation with time always fascinated me.

The way she manage her schedules, the way she fits her own routines.

Birthdate 12th May 1993

Wise - probably the most suiteble word to describe Chow.

She is curious, sceptical, critical. Ecletic, yet focused.

Mother Emília Chow Father Júlio de Carvalho Nationality Portuguese Home Town Oporto Household She and her Mother

As a current student of an artistic secondary school in Portugal, she is looking forward to studying abroad to enrich her personal experience and to get to know other people and cultures: to grow not only as a person, but also as a future artist (or even designer or architect).

Although she appreciates being alone, she is also a dedicated friend and colleague.

I would say that Chow embraces every moment in full.

That’s the reason why talking to her is worth it.

She is quite inspiring.

Interview What is the meaning of time for you?

Do you think time is a countable phenomenon? Why?

Life. Not more than that, nor less.

How do you relate time with your personality?

I’d say I wouldn’t relate time to my personality, but I’d do it the way round, relating my personality with time: it changes, I grow up and try to enjoy what life has to offer me, adapting myself to time.

The sole bond between the two concepts is the change.

Both change. I cannot establish another connection between time, myself and my personal characteristics.

I could barely say that I do not face time as a physical phenomenon.

Generally, I think of it as an illusion.

We grow old (I can’t deny it!), but I’d rather describe that process as life being written in the surface of our bodies and conscience.

I believe thinking of time as time itself is just a good way to keep ourselves busy; the truth is I only have this perfect and unique moment: I breath in, and breath out.

That’s the true meaning of time: living.

Slow or Fast? Past, Present, Future?

Slow, most of the times.

Calmly enjoying the view.

None... all. “Present of the Past, Present of the Present and Present of the Future.” [Padre António Vieira] Coherence (not necessarily) and cohesion, above all.

What is your biggest problem/challenge with time?

Definitely, measuring it.

Then, trying to pretend I do not.

What’s the importance of time in your work?

How do you spend your spare time?

I enjoy doing things slowly, but I feel with the amount of work I have, I “will have no time” to do all the things I wanted to spend my effort on.

Yes, I feel I am falling for “time measurement”, and I couldn’t feel more deceived.

It is extremely sad to understand I actually do have an answer for this question (I must have been living “time”/”life” the wrong way!).

Well... I believe time is not to be measured, divided into categories, (bla bla bla) I think of it as coherent, cohesive...: something I am not sure I’m able to put into words...

But if considering “spare time” the absence of routine in my daily life, I have to tell you (and you must already know) I do not have much of that, at least, during the school year. Too much work and I do not want to fail to do anything, as I am not studying because of the grades or just to get in college, I am doing that for personal enrichment.

So, that’s pretty much of my spare time (my whole time) spent there.

Besides that, I enjoy drawing, writing, sewing, among lots of many other different things, as being with people I like, people I don’t like..., just “experiencing sensitivity”.

How do you relate time with productivity and money?

People say time is money...

Today it seems the faster you do things, the sooner you’ll be available to do other things and earn more, and get more tired — it is (no doubt) a vicious circle.

Stopping the cycle to think appears to be silly.

‘Why to stop, if you still have loads of thing to do?”

How do you relate time with freedom?

We own the whole time of our lives and its implicit freedom, but our choices will lead to consequences, and we’ve always been taught to be afraid of consequences, that’s why most of people are unlikely to enjoy either.

How much time do you want me to give you?

I would dare to say: eternity.

Quoting a character of “A Bout de souffle”, of whom I actually do not remember very well, “My dream is to be immortal, an then, to die”.

Well, focusing in the “physically possible”, I’d just ask you to offer me time to get to know myself better. Time of introspection.

Not a matter of quantity, but quality. Give me your best.

Do you prefer to save time or to live it in a different way?

I see no reason for saving time, time is always

“wasted” — “waste it well!”

I am not sure if I quite understand the second part of the question: time is always lived in a different way, why would I particularly prefer doing that rather than anything else?

It seems so natural to me... Quoting one of the biggest Portuguese poets of all times, and I am sorry for any mistake in the free translation I am about to make, “To live is to be another. To be [today] different from what we were yesterday. (...)”

Do you often carry with you any kind of watch?

Yes, I do.

If yes, why?

It may sound slightly futile, but I wear it because it is “aesthetically pleasant”.

It is a 1996 limited edition by Swatch, and it was not expensive.

Despite generally not standing to wear watches because of the annoying sound they make, tic-tac; tic-tac; tic-tac; and so on, I enjoy to look at mine.

Give time a number: Is infinity a number?

Give time a colour: Black. No past, no present, no future.

Just the colour I see when I close my eyes.

Give time a weight: 21 grams, the weight of soul.

Give time a shape: Perhaps curved.

Black

Give day a shape: Circle.

Problem & Approach Giving someone a little gift of time is an inspiring challenge. But it is also a serious issue.

How do you give time, in any sense?

How do you give it with meaning?

Or even How do you give it meaning?

In this particular case, that was the main problem, giving time with meaning and giving meaning to time.

Even though the process was led by Chow’s oriented research, the product was designed for a broader use.

Indeed, the final solution was designed for both men and women, elderly and young people.

The approach taken was quite poetical. It was designed

with the intent of changing our relation with time.

I chose the shape of a clock to better satirise our society and in order to allow a intuitive usage.

The main idea was bringing freedom to our lives.

Undressing days of their implicit chronology, slowing down the unmeasured pursuit of time in which we live.

For so I tried different ideas as sketches, certain of the type of product that I would like to offer Chow.

I’ll present this part of this process on the next few pages.

Idea Generation

Time ≠ Chronology “The concept of time is self-evident. An hour consists of a certain number of minutes, a day of hours and a year of days. But we rarely think about the fundamental nature of time.

Time is passing non-stop, and we follow it with clocks and calendars. Yet we cannot study it with a microscope or experiment with it. And it still keeps passing. We just cannot say what exactly happens when time passes.

Time is represented through change, such as the circular motion of the moon around the earth. The passing of time is indeed closely connected to the concept of space.

One of the most peculiar qualities of time is the fact that it is measured by motion and it also becomes evident through motion” The essay “What Is Time?” , from University of Helsinki (2005, April 15).

Even though we do need chronology to manage greatly our time, sometimes we depend to much on it.

The virtual division of time does not respond to real feel of live. Stripping up days into hours, and hours into minutes que end up building routines and rituals.

The chronology have gained such an important role in our way of living that we can’t barely think how would be forgetting it.

Despite we can not fit the developed world mechanism without a watch to check if we are within the schedule, we need to have moments in which we could live time without barreers.

Forgetting chronology, feeling movement.

Chronology

Routine

Time

Time ≠ Money Jonathan Mead on Zen Habit (Death of the Clock: Reclaiming Your Time) talks about the differences between time, money, and productivity, critizing Benjamim Franklin’s quote “Time is Money”.

“We always find more things to do, more projects to work on, more ways to improve and optimize. But when we base our happiness on achievement, we’ve joined the cult of productivity. [...]

Being productive is no longer a means to an end. It’s the end entirely.

And it’s a sickness.

Part of the reason for this obsession with productivity is we think time is money.

But time is not money. Time is life.”

Time is something far beyond money.

It does not depend on it, although its selfevident relation.

When we talk about money and work we necessarily talk about productivity, which is the relation between time spent and production.

Even though, saying “time is money” is quite disturbing. Time should be freedom.

It should be space and choice. We have the right to choose our own path and to manage our time wisely (or even wildly!).

The consumerist society in which we live proves that translating time into money feeds unmeasured ambitions and alienates our joy of living.

Time

Freedom

Happyness

Money

Slavery

Obsession

Our

Time = Movement David Bohm, Physic, once said, “In classical mechanics, movement or velocity is defined as the relation between the position now and the position a short time ago. What was a short time ago is gone, so you relate what is to what is not. This isn’t a logical concept. In the implicate order you are relating different frames that are copresent in consciousness. You’re relating what is to what is. A moment contains flow or movement. The moment may be long or short, as measured in time. In consciousness a moment is around a tenth of a second. Electronic moments are much shorter, but a moment of history might be a century.

At any given moment we feel the presence of all the past and also the anticipated future. It’s all present and active. The best metaphor might involve memory. We remember a great many events, which are all present together. Their succession is in that momentary memory: We don’t have to run through them all to reproduce that time succession. We already have the succession.”

One valid way of percepting time is through the perception of movement.

The truth of a moment can’t be fully measured because it contains a lot more than chronology.

It’s real duration, the one that we are able to understand, may vary in lenght, depth and other factors that depend on the entity who feels it.

Rather than measuring the uncountable, and counting the unmeasurable, we should focus in a way of embracing time, and living it personaly.

Are mechanical instruments that divide time into equal pieces, unaware of the differences cointained on each moment, wise means of understanting time?

Is perception of movement enough to live time with meaning?

Space

Movement

Time

Chow’s Sketches

Chow’s Academic Drawing

Chow’s Self-Portrait

Timeless first skecthes

Timeless Concept and Expressive Representation

Timeless

Concept Timeless is an object that invites you to think about time.

As a product, it’s function goes back to you, as the main mechanism of it’s use, It fits your rhythm and gives you as many time as you want it to give.

Due to its emptiness it may be fulfilled with moments, memories and experiences.

Since movement is the manifestation of time, we can fully understand it through our senses.

Hours, minutes, seconds, they all disappear on the length and depth of a sight, a taste, a sound.

The pursuit of time ends.

The more it is used, the more it is valuable. This value exists between your time and it’s shape, between what it was and what it is.

Indeed, Timeless presents it self as a window to reality, a way of perceiving movement.

It awares you that time is not chronology, neither money.

We find that the value of any moment relies on change.

Then, we end up agreeing that being empty is the best way of welcome life.

Shape Timeless design was inspired in a common pocket watch, both in shape and dimension.

This option didn’t let space for many antropometry studies but, in the other hand, it made it recognisable and easy to interpret.

The aesthetic appealing led part of the designing process, not forgetting the importance of a comfortable use and handling.

The 3.5mm edges of the stainless steel empty display are wide enough to allow a ergonomic and non offensive wear and use.

It’s 42mm diameter ring was designed to fit the hand size and to show the reality behind the object.

The Timeless wire was designed to allow both pendant and pocket use, depending on the type of knot used (airplane knot, or not!).

That solution makes it possible to attach it to your jeans/trousers, vest, without needing any kind of clipping system, or to simply wearing it as a pendant.

Once in your hand you will feel it just like a pocket watch, due to it’s shape, size and weight.

Even though, you will notice that instead of showing arrows or numbers it shows your own skin.

If, for instance, somebody asks you what time is it, you may always enjoy pointing it to a mechanical/digital watch and saying “for you there are 13:20 hours past midday, for me there are as many as I wish”.

It’s hers Teresa Chow’s statement after receiving is little gift of time: “A wonderful birthday present, no doubt.

I mean, it is definitely a wonderful day-to-day gift; however, having received it from a friend in the day I was born, 18 years ago, made it even more special. “Timeless” is (indeed) an object connected to Birth itself. It invites every single person that wears it to change and to move forward: to leave their old self behind.

Its symbolic value is outstanding. Such a simple object that can make you understand the potential of being alive, the wide range of choices you have, even if you wish to choose none.

More than an aesthetically pleasant gift, Lucas gave me the opportunity to see the world through no lens. (Thank you.)

— Lucas, of course I will lend “timeless” to you, to present your home assignment for Eindhoven Design Academy. Good luck!”

Index Introdution It’s Chow’s Time · Teresa Chow’s Profile · Interview · Problem and Aproach Idea Generation - Theory · Time ≠ Chronology · Time ≠ Money · Time = Movement Idea Generation - Sketching · Chows Sketches and Textes · Timeless Sketches Timeless · Concept · Shape · Photos · It’s hers! - Chow’s Statement

Thanks Teresa Chow - Inspiration, Motivation and Opinions João Diogo Vaz Monteiro - Studio and Product Photography Guilherme Silva - Male Model Tânia Martins - Female Model Marta Castro - Female Model José Amorim - Prototype Production Support Marta Cruz - 3D Modeling Support and Criticizing Friends and Family - Support and Criticizing

by Lucas for