All Things Measured

For Issue 01 none felt more fitting than LENGTH , as it is incredibly common, widespread, and graspable. Starting from the general and generic, through the historic and implicit solutions people find for measuring distances, lengths and heights.

Lengths and distances are ordinary necessities: we measure textiles, how far we run, how much to walk before we take a left, how to fit in a parking spot, how to buy gifts for others but make sure that they are the right size (at least roughly). Besides the DIY, ISSUE 01 Length 📏 will also explore the awkward teens of the measuring units we use today, and the fine tuning done over thousands of years, “perfected" (depending on how you define perfect) into the measuring standards of today, and how we misuse them.

What is in ISSUE 01 Length 📏?

Together with a very observant group of contributors, we were able to bring together essays, photo-features and illustrations. Just to give a snippet:

Maggie Oran shares her curiosity for how measuring lengths is surprisingly imprecise in aviation
Ioana Goția-Ciurea takes us on a trip down memory lane, into the childhood memories of measuring and being measured
An interview with Belgian artist Willem de Haan measures out many of his projects related to the ruler and his take on truth and fiction in relation to the built (and measured) world we live in.
Boey Wang showcases “Immeasurable Range”, a series of objects for flexible measurement which are inspired by human errors and the emotional aspect of measuring.
Joanne van der Wal explores how we went from measurers (using our palms and bodies) to being the object of our measure, putting smart watches on set palms.
And so! much! more! The magazine pulls its weight at 96 pages of stories, awaiting the careful gaze of measurement nerds.

Measurements aren't cool or flashy to the general public, as most often the word technology is used on a shiny stage during a launch event, or during a press release about new innovations. ATM is interested to present a different flavour than the popular appreciation of new over everything else, and focus on a thousand years old technology, tried and tested in daily-life activities where we need to weigh, assess and measure.

The (sometimes literal) tension between precision and imprecision will unravel a diverse collection of stories in ATM.

Despite living in a very accurate world, we use loose measurements because they are literally and metaphorically closer at hand.

In the past we solved problems such as how to store ice before refrigeration, how to tell if gold is real, and how to make sure trade was fair, all by measuring and comparing things. Today in daily tasks we assess very well without a ruler or thermometer, by using bananas and coins as references, or sticking an arm out the window to know how many clothes to put on.

Many solutions are based on the same tools: our hands, senses, and everyday objects. Mundane things that at first seem to not have much design or precision help us with enough information to get the job done.

What is in ISSUE 01 Length 📏?

Why make a magazine about measurements?

Incline Clock; A clock with a weight placed at the top of a ramp, going down over the course of a week. The object uses gravity instead of a spring, telling the time by using both weight and distances.

Can Opener Bridge; a bridge named so by the unfortunate effects of its height, almost but not permiting most standard height trucks to pass through, in turn uncovering their top as would a can opener. Mismeasurement in action.

Colophon