Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Not for blitz . . .

Is this the world's most impractical chess set?


The pieces are not only upside down, but lanterns.

Captures, one suspects, might become rather more inflammatory than usual.

And perhaps more than a little dangerous for anyone analyzing the position, who might be lying underneath:

Still, what a remarkable thing it is, and others certainly seem to like it. squirrelbait of Core77 for instance wrote: "Taking the extra time to move and appreciate the beauty of the suspended pieces only further reinforces the slow, careful nature of chess."

While Chris Davies of Slashgear blogged: "I’ve never had much patience for chess - not enough lasers - but the exception has always been those human-sized outdoor sets you play in the garden. Graphic designer Wei Lieh Lee might have come up with another exception, however, in his Gazebo Chess Set project with Kevin O’Callaghan: an inverted board of hanging lanterns [...] The great thing is, this is something you could quite easily recreate in your own garden; a grid of hooks and some simple paper lanterns would make for a fun summer game that you could leave out even with small children running around, and not have to worry that they’d knock all the pieces over."

Mm, maybe. Personally, I think I'm more tempted by the message toaster.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

wow. a sensual feast. i'd buy that just to lie down underneath it. i could look at that for hours. if somebody could blow gently on the lanterns that would be perfect. couldn't get the message toaster link to load. does it pop up love notes!?

ejh said...

I never realised that the Lewis Chessmen inspired Noggin The Nog.