See-Sign | See-Saw

Installation made from child’s see-saw, foam, laser-cut wood, wooden planks, ink, ink rollers, two tables and acrylic

Collaboration with Joel Kern

How can you turn a piece of old technology into a new experience? Inspired by a Paymaster—a vintage, mid-century check-writing machine—Joel Kern and I designed a human-operated press.

You select stamps and create words in your own compositions using a physical grid. First you encounter the tops of the stamps, marked with letters. You ink the stamps, place them, and then close the lid and latch. After selecting your paper and sticking it onto the flat bed, you sit on the see-saw to move the plate upwards. The paper meets the bottom of the stamps, which contain translations of the letters to hand gestures in American sign language.

A short video documents the installation, translating the experience for others to easily understand. Participants hung their signs in a public outdoor area near RISD, to create messages and invite further interaction.

We wanted to visually transcribe the language used in deaf communities in the US. Sign language is often only communicated in real time via movement. See-Sign|See-Saw brings attention to the language through interaction, creativity and play. The color and aesthetics of the project amplify this playfulness.