Zeitzeichen

I've always liked huge displays. For this project I built a big numerical display out of neon tubes, driven by an ATmega328P, showing the seconds of the current minute. A Sisyphean task: the tubes need about a second to light up, so the display was permanently catching up with the time it was trying to tell — less a clock than a light show, switching on and off in the endless rhythm of the seconds.

Update 2019

This long-forgotten project got a new life in a different context. While planning the stage design for a new TV show on ORF eins, I used the displays as a template for big screens as a backdrop. The stage was then built by the awesome people at Consequences.

The separate screens were mounted on wires and could move up and down, which gave the set another layer of movement. I like that this project evolved into something different.