The Melted Time: The Gravity of Memory
Design Statement:
About this project, I decide to make a functional tabletop alarm clock held by a human hand, exploring the delicate balance between the persistence of memory and the inevitable flow of time. Inspired by Salvador Dali's The Persistence of Memory, the design features a clock face that appears to liquefy under the weight of passing hours, symbolizing that time is not a rigid structure, but a constant, unstoppable movement.
The "melting" form represents how moments dissolve as soon as they occur. Although we try to "grasp" time (represented by the hand), its essence always slips through our fingers, eventually pooling into the "splash" of the past.
The downward flow eventually settles into a splash area, where the rotating pearl ring emerges. This signifies that vanished time is frozen into memories; although time keeps moving, our memories of the past remain unchanged, orbiting quietly above the fluid remains of the day.
Conceptualization:
- Brainstorming Sketches
- Early Design Thinking
Digital modeling:
- Rendered Views
- Structural Overview
The "hand" part is made in two parts, the part that only two fingers are used for later battery replacement and time adjustment.
The melted clock has two pillars added behind it for fixation.
The Splash
Rotating Mechanism:
I have integrated a hidden motor mechanism within the base of the splash area.. This mechanism will drive a suspended pearl ring positioned slightly above the splash. The motor and battery holder will be concealed within the base structure. The movement is designed to be slow and subtle.
"Splash Area" - the motor and "Human Hand" - battery holder
The rotation is intentionally designed to be slow and subtle, ensuring the movement feels like a natural, ethereal orbit rather than a mechanical process—mirroring how memories quietly resurface and circle back in our minds. Furthermore, I have included a manual switch that allows for direct control over the mechanism. This provides the freedom to choose when the 'memory' should be in motion or remain still, acknowledging that our engagement with the past is often a conscious choice.
- Challenges
1. Creating the flowing water droplets on the melted clock was difficult. Both models were "SubD" and using "Bridge" required the same number of edges on both sides. However, using the same faces made the overall appearance look awkward. But when I reduced the edges of the faces on the melted clock to get the desired number of faces, Rhino failed.
I guessed it was because the overall number of edges on the faces wasn't the same. Then I deleted the edges of the random faces next to the faces I wanted, so that the overall faces had the same number of edges, but it still failed (this time I didn't understand why, since I followed its requirements for edges and faces).
Finally, I used the same number of edges with "Bridge," deleted what I considered unreasonable parts, and then connected them with "Sweep2."
2. Making these splashing water droplets is also quite troublesome.
3. Although Rhino identified the geometry as a "Closed Polysurface" (NURBs), PrusaSlicer shows there are 'Naked Edges' for the model.
Use "Check" shows many self-intersecting faces in the complex "hand" and "splash" geometries.
The Solution:
First, I converted all Polysurfaces into Meshes
(0.6 Density, 0.01mm max distance to surface).
Then I used the "ShrinkWrap" tool. This allowed me to create a brand-new, unified "skin" over the complex shapes, effectively sealing all internal errors and naked edges into a single, continuous shell.
(Target Edge Length: 0.8
Smoothing Iterations: 1
Offset: 0
Optimization: 0%
Inflate Vertices: /)
Finial, using the "Check" command in Rhino to verify each part. The final report confirmed: "Valid Mesh," "No naked edges," and "No self-intersecting faces."
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