Description
First thing’s first: if you want to see what’s so special about Rhei, fast forward to 1:50 in the above video to bypass the dramatic buildup and jump straight to the action flow.
Developed and realized by Damjan Stankovic and Marko Pavlovic, Rhei is a clock with a liquid display. It still keeps perfect time and visibly “ticks” away the minutes and hours, but rather than using printed digits or lights to command its visuals, the Rhei prototype manipulates ferrofluid into numerical displays. It’s a lolling piece of animated art that settles at a midpoint between the analog and digital worlds of time.
Stankovic says, “There is a middle ground between the analog and the digital sphere, where the rules of mechanics and the laws of nature come together in order to create a liquid illusion reminiscent of a contemporary, digital form.” Rhei keeps time like we see it, always in motion, always repeating the same sequence of hours and minutes, but shows time more like we feel it, its animations forming differently with each appearance, no two noons, happy hours, or 10:47s ever alike.
