#01: The Weight Recorder (Ver.2)

Memory Container
The Synesthetic Recorder of Involuntary Memory

This project seeks to analyse our body as a memory container that contains both physical and emotional experiences. By using two ordinary objects, a scale and a height chart, that translate biological data into a readable language which allows us to recall a particular experience or moment easily. The scale and height charts might remain unnoticed in daily life but nevertheless, when encountered, they offer a significant ‘hint’. In this way, as long as people find interest in the objects, they will be touched and surprised. While people have diverse personal value systems, with this, everyone responds to the hint, not only the one who had the original experience. In summary, the aim of the project is to investigate the relationship between the body, psychology and an object, in terms of memory. Following this, the way memories, objects and human beings influence each other, will be analysed.

A film by Minhan Lin and Weiche Wu. Music by Four Tet - Parks.

#01: The Weight Recorder (Ver.2)

The Weight Recorder basically records the changing weight of a person over a period of time, it makes marks on a disk that responds to the passed life. The device is a mechanical scale with a compass holding a pencil that can draw lines on the tracing paper disk attached to the statistical part. When the user stands on the scale, the compass turns and the pencil draws an arc. The radius of the compass can be adjusted in every usage, so the arcs are drawn concentrically. The user can use the devices over a certain period of time, eventually the user will get a graphical ‘life-tracing’ on a disk.

The intended user of The Weight Recorder is a pregnant mother, who wants to record the happiness of pregnancy. She can use The Weight Recorder once a month, the baby’s gradually growing will respond to her body condition, especially weight gaining. People use baby ultrasound scanning pictures to check the growth of baby, it gives baby’s health condition precisely, but she won’t feel the baby literally growing inside her body via the pictures. The Weight Recorder helps the mother to experience her baby growing with her, and the feature shows on her body as well.