Movable Type Cube
November 30, 2010
I majored in fine arts and concentrated in printmaking for my undergraduate. I am always interested in different ways of printing and I am also very interested in typography, especially Chinese and East Asian typography. For my MFADT thesis at Parsons, I am designing new typefaces for the Chinese Alphabet. The way we design a Chinese character or a Chinese alphabet letter is trying to reach a balance within a 9-square box. Somehow it reminds me of the Rubik’s Cube. I am always fascinated by the mechanics of the Rubik’s Cube as how it can be moved without falling apart. The “moving” part links me to the traditional movable type. And the idea of the “Movable Type Cube” is born.
Building my own cube from scratch would be interesting, but with the time I had, I decided to base my cube on an existing cube. Choosing the right materials was a challenge. Most Rubik’s Cubes on the market were made of plastics. I really wanted something that corresponded to the traditional movable type, so I wanted it to be either metal or wood. Fortunately, the Rubik’s Cube has a wood edition for its 30th Anniversary, which is perfect for the project.
Chinese has a long history with the printing. In 105 AD, Cai Lun invented the paper. In 200 AD, the Chinese invention of Woodblock printing produced the world’s first print culture. In 1040, Bi Sheng invented the first known movable type technology. Therefore, I want to use a Chinese text for my cube. The text I used for my cube is called “Three Character Classic.” It is a traditional Chinese text that teaches young children to be a good person in the society. The text is written in triplets of characters for easy memorization, which is perfect for the cube since the cube is 3 by 3 on every side. The text is written by Wang Yinglin during the Song Dynasty, so I used a font called “Song,” which is correspond to the Song Dynasty when a distinctive printed style of regular script was developed.
The English translation (by Herbert Giles):
Men at their birth…
are naturally good.
Their natures are much the same.
Their habits become widely different.
If foolishly there is no teaching,
the nature will deteriorate.
The right way in teaching…
is to attach the utmost importance in thoroughness.
Of old, the mother of Mencius…
chose a neighbourhood.
And when her child would not learn,
she broke the shuttle from the loom.
Dou of the Swallow Hills…
had the right method.
He taught five sons.
Each of whom raised the family reputation.
To feed without teaching…
is the father’s fault.
I used the laser cutter to do the type part. I tried three times because the first two times failed. The etching was not deep enough for the first two times. I even tried a back up plan, which is to order rubber stamp online. Fortunately, third time’s a charm and it came out all right.
Once the type part is cut, I placed them on to the cube with Elmer’s glue. The “Movable Type Cube” is done!
By inking the cube with the ink pad, I printed the text on to the paper.
I had fun making this project. Even though it is much easier to print something from computer nowadays, going back to the old technology can still be fun.
Here are some other interesting Rubik’s Cube projects that inspired me:
Astor “Rubik’s Cube” Prank by All Too Flat
Rubitone by Ignacio Pilotto (Rubik’s Cube + Pantone Mashup)
Sudoku Cube by Jay Horowitz
Bronze Rubik’s Cube by Marshall Astor
Rubik’s Magnetic Cube by Gary Fixler
Blind Man’s Cube by Greg Hewitt
DIY Rubik’s Wood Cube by BrittLiv
UPDATE:
The project got a lot of postive feedbacks. Thank you so much the Internet people~!
Thanks to Prof. Becky, the Project got posted on Make Magazine blog.
The project then got reblogged by some other sites: TECHi, Gearfuse…
The project even got reblogged by some Chinese language sites. The power of the Internet… hehe
Cool3C, HomeBook, Wow! La Vie…
Some people expressed that they would like to buy this cube. Maybe someday I will make more editions.
(Too busy with my thesis now…lol)
Oh, I adore this! After you’ve twisted and turned everything, does all the typography still read in the same direction?
That’s a good question Wendy, and I actually had the same thought as I was reading. Although, thinking through it mentally, it seems that the typography could get un-oriented through manipulation of the cube.
say you are looking at the cube…upward facing tile on the bottom right (for example). rotate the cube to where said tile is now facing you (z-rotation). now twist the cube so that tile is on one of the sides (x-rotation). if you were to now twist the cube up, so that the tile was now back in it’s original location (y-rotation), the tile (and whole bottom row) would now be rotated 90deg from how it originally started.
i don’t have a rubik’s cube in front of me, so i’m having to try and picture it mentally, but i think that’s correct.
[...] Shaun Chung created this Rubik’s cube stamp featuring Chinese characters that combine to form verses from a traditional children’s poem. He laser-etched the [...]
Wow, this is absolutely supreme! Love the idea and the outcome. Are you going to produce and sell these?
Will you sell one to me please? I’d really love to give this to my dad. He’s going to love it.
Yes, please let us know if you are going to sell the original, or make an edition of them!
[...] Movable Type Cube share 标签: 同看: 三字经, 活字印刷, 魔方 生活中的智慧，菜场神一般的大爷 [...]
[...] Reader Pierre has pointed me to the blog entry by the creator of the Movable Type Cube. Share this:FacebookStumbleUponEmail Posted at 2:56pm. Posted in language Tags: Chinese, Chinese [...]
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Hi,
I really found your blog to be really good and it really give me some . will definitely recommend your site to my friends. definitely bookmarking this site. Keep up the good work! hope to see more of this!
[...] get much better than that! And, in case you are wondering what the Chinese poem is, check out Shaun’s description of the work that went into the cube. .wp_search_plugin_related_posts{ font-size: 0.9em; width: 100%; } [...]
Dear,
I’m really proud of you!!
我把這些喜訊分享在我的部落格和臉書喔!!絲雨
[...] this Rubik's Cube stamp with movable type Chinese characters by Shaun Chung. Chung laser-etched the characters from wood, [...]
Wonderful art work…thanks for sharing how and why you did this. What fun!!!!
Jan Castle
[...] this Rubik's Cube stamp with movable type Chinese characters by Shaun Chung. Chung laser-etched the characters from wood, [...]
What a fabulous idea. Really really want one now… haha, now if only I was artistically inclined… pls do put them into production. would be very happy to buy for myself and as gifts for friends.
As Taiwanese living in the US, I am so touched by this creation! Would I be able to buy one? Please?
[...] 到這個網站還會介紹它的製作方法，不防參考！ [...]
Fascinating project and well done. Very inspiring!
[...] 原po http://sternlab.org/artfortheinternet/2010/11/movable-type-cube/ [...]
請問哪裡可以買到? 謝謝！