No Such Luck

No Such Luck is an interactive artifact comprising of a see-through glass enclosure that houses a electro magnetic pendulum connected to an oscillating arm that protrudes out of one side of the jar. An ultrasonic proximity sensor connected to the electromagnetic pendulum detects the presence and distance of a visitor/s in front of the artifact, and the oscillating arm adjusts its period (time taken for an oscillation to occur) according to the distance of the visitor. The artwork investigates the semantics of a symbolic (nonhuman) gesture, focusing on the awkward intersection between superstition and logic. The rationality of a data driven intervention augments an irrational belief. The artifact lays bare the electromagnetic pendulum that is used in fortune cats to swing its beckoning paw, uncovering the little-known inner workings behind the distinctive beckoning gesture of a fortune cat. The abstraction of its overall form removes the visual representation of a cat reveals the essence of the gestural movement. In the absence of visitors within the range of the artifact, the oscillating “gesture” will be incited to speed up and appear more hardworking an anxious. As a visitor/s approaches it, the “gesture” will start to slow down correspondingly and appear more relaxed, more so when the visitor is up close inspecting its inner workings.

BIO

Hans Tan is a designer and an educator based in Singapore. He is an assistant professor at the Division of Industrial Design, National University of Singapore, and the founder of Hans Tan Studio. His work is occupied with the authenticity of the contemporary design artifact being a deliberate gesticulation of material culture. He deploys design as medium, making use of utility as a pretext to comment on design and its industry as a phenomenon. With a keen interest in developing materials and processes, he explores ideas concerning identity, heritage, and consumption.