Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Delta's Dreidel


Delta's Dreidel 2
Originally uploaded by garrettebsmith
The origin of Delta lies within this ball valve. Since 1954 the Delta ball valve has been an unseen yet integral part of what makes single handle faucets possible, but the times are a-changin'. New innovations have led to Delta's traditional ball valves to become obsolete leaving these relics of innovation in limbo. Delta's Dreidel repurposes a ball valve by taking advantage of its formal and material characteristics. The punched holes, necessary for the ball valve’s original purpose, act as symbols during play that coordinate with letters from the Hebrew alphabet: nun (a player does nothing), gimmel (a player takes the whole pot), hey (a player takes half of the pot) and shin (a player puts one piece into the pot). During each round a player puts one piece, traditionally coins, into the pot as one player spins at a time until the whole pot is won and a new round begins. It spins beautifully as a top, and with its augmented flat surfaces on the ball and spindle it lands perfectly in place to reveal the player's next move. See Delta's Dreidel at its best, in motion.

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