Watchmaker's Cabinet
Watchmaker's Cabinet
Watchmaker's Cabinet
Watchmaker's Cabinet
Watchmaker's Cabinet
Watchmaker's Cabinet
Watchmaker's Cabinet
Watchmaker's Cabinet
Watchmaker's Cabinet
Watchmaker's Cabinet
Watchmaker's Cabinet
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Watchmaker's Cabinet

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There are two ways of looking at this piece: 

Short way:

Shiny pieces that fit together nicely.

Long way:

There is a popular philosophical argument in support of intentional or intelligent design of the universe. It posits this: since shaking a disorganized box of watch parts cannot spontaneously cause them to self-assemble into a watch, the existence of an assembled watch must thereby prove the existence of a watchmaker. By analogy, the mere existence of a complex universe thereby proves the existence of a guiding mind in the creation of the universe and everything in it.

A compelling argument, with a flaw.

It presupposes that a box of watch parts is - by definition - disorganized. Is it?  An assembled watch is just one system of organization in which watch parts can be organized, but there are others. For instance, the shaken box of parts could spontaneously sort by size, colour, name, etc. - any of which would be a system of organization and all of which would seem plausible to occur by random chance given infinite opportunity.

Not convinced? Okay, try this: maybe a box of seemingly random watch parts are actually in a complex system of organization that is just not immediately apparent. Consider “Watchmaker’s Cabinet” - when the halves are observed in isolation, each maps out the impression of a seemingly random assembly of parts. But when the two halves are brought together it is revealed that they fit precisely and, just like an assembled watch, they are actually in a complex system of organization (even though this was not immediately apparent). But this would lead to a logical absurdity: the existence of a system that appears to be either highly organized or disorganized would both prove the existence of intelligent design.

You can draw your own conclusions, one of which maybe that I clearly enjoy every aspect of this creative process.

No actual watches were assembled or harmed in the making of this art piece.