Regardless if you call it a meditation on soldering or perhaps an act of craziness, Gislain Benoit’s “The Clock” deserves at least some sort of recognition for its OCD-like organizational neatness.
The self-described “Techno-Logic-Artist” has been working with electronics for as long as he can remember due to a lifelong fascination with the way electronic devices and robots work. Although he has been working on a variety of electronic and robotic projects over the years, “The Clock” is his first “Techno-Logic-Art” piece that was intended to be perceived as a piece of art rather than a functional electronic project.
Designed and built over a 3-year period, “The Clock” is designed to both keep time as well as communicate the vast array of electronic functions required to power a microchip that resides within a wrist watch if you were to place the chip under a microscope.
“For the first time, you can actually see what really composes a digital watch.”
The handcrafted device features a total of 1916 parts that are linked to hold themselves and reveal the complexity of circuitry through solid wiring. Similar to a string of christmas tree lights, every part has its purpose; if you were take out a single part, the entire system will shut down.
“[There are] digital pulses flowing inside every single wire and every single part,” said Benoit. “These synchronized pulses, all intelligently controlled and channeled through every circuit, is a binary “dance” of hundreds of bits of information coming and going from one section to another. All working in unison to display the flow of time.”
Breakdown of Parts:
- 1161 Diodes
- 340 Transistors
- 346 Resistors
- 60 Red LEDs
- 6 Magnetic switches
- 3 Dual digit displays
= 1916 Total number of parts
You can read more about Benoit’s build process as well as check out his other “Techno-Logic-Art” projects over at Techno-Logic-Art.com.
