The Transporter
In 2014 I attempted to convert a 1960’s Hobart Dishwasher into a machine that would tear a hole in the space-time continuum. I have no proof it worked and little proof it failed. It was my first attempt at building a time machine. Months later, I simplified this device and installed it within a science museum.
The Transporter is a playful take on time machines and the idea of teleportation. I identified an unused alcove at the Chabot Space & Science Center and transformed the space to include this interactive sculpture. Mechanisms in the rear of the machine, activated by a foot pump, initiate a sequence of jarring sounds from a subwoofer. After a select number of pumps, the machine prompts an internal conveyor belt, at which point, strange objects are dispensed down a slide, onto a crash-symbol landing pad, upon a wooden platform. Visitors and onlookers are encouraged to identify the history of these objects and how they may be connected. Each day, a new object extracted from the machine (and the hole in the space-time continuum) is on display in the upper chamber, on a revolving, illuminated disc - begging for an answer to its identity and possible narrative.
