Work in progress: more information will be added here soon.
Vacuum tubes produce their “color” through the physics of how they amplify or pass electrical signals through them, the warm even-order harmonic distortion that makes a tube amp sound like a tube amp rather than a transistor / solid state amp. This set takes that object and moves it off the circuit board and onto a different board. The thirty-two pieces each pair a vacuum tube with a hand made titanium ring base that holds the tube upright and makes differentiation a little easier. Different tube types and ring sizes distinguish the ranks with the smaller 7 pin tubes for pawns, more medium sized tubes for the major pieces and large 9 pins for the king and queens, the variation in glass envelope size doing the work that carving does in a traditional set. Titanium is used in fabrication for a practical reason, it is light, strong, and biocompatible, but it also shifts color under anodization and under light in a way no other structural metal does, so the material connects back to the theme directly. The base of each ring is threaded so any piece can be lifted off the board and screwed onto “The Element”, making the chess set also a modular source of wearable objects whether you want rings or necklaces.
Inquire