Scott Thrift takes the long view on things. The Brooklyn-based artist has been making crazy clocks for most of this decade, starting out with the incredible ThePresent seasons clock and culminating in something he’s calling Today.
His Kickstarter project for the new clock has already blown past its goal and he’s excited to bring his unique brand of time-telling to our daily lives. The smaller clock is made of bamboo and contains a simple German 24-hour clock movement.
Thrift was the creative director and co-founder of Brooklyn-based m ss ng p eyes. He’s currently a TED talker and has appeared at Applied Brilliance and PSFK.
“I never imagined myself as someone who introduces new scales of time, but I can’t imagine being involved in anything more urgent, meaningful, and rewarding. The way we measure time dictates our behavior and so we deserve access to scales that are more appropriate for the way we live our lives now and far into the future,” he wrote.
His first project launched in 2011 and was a massive wall clock that displayed a single hand on a rainbow of color. As the year progressed from winter to summer and back again the hand would point, generally, to where you were in the season. We’ve had one of his clocks in our house for a few years now and it’s wonderful and fascinating to look up and see how far we are from the solstices and what we can soon expect.
Today, on the other hand, tells the story of a single day. From dark to light the single hand simply tells the time in 24 hours, albeit without numbers. This website tells you how to set your Today and then you simply let the hand turn around the face.
The five-inch desk clock, pictured, costs $88 while the 11-inch wall clock costs $113. Both have been meticulously design an printed by Thrift and his partners.
At first the idea of a clock without numbers is pretty goofy. However, as I’ve gotten used to Today you begin to see the day in a whole new light. Instead of regimented time you know generally where you are in the day and can act accordingly. When the sun – and the hand – is at its highest you can be the most productive and you can easily wind down at dusk.
There aren’t many products out there that remind you to slow down. Thrift is doing us all a favor by building is clever and relaxing clocks and this, his second project, should be a real hit around the house. He is shipping in December, just in time for the go-go-go holidays so plan accordingly.
