Brasswater Gauge
A water purifier from the Brasswater convoy, rebuilt as a video player. Open the valve to start. The glass tube fills with water as the film runs, a brass regulator sets the steam pressure, the counters turn like an odometer, and the gears and steam come alive while it plays.
Keys: Space play · ← → seek · ↑ ↓ volume · F fullscreen · C captions
BUILDING PRESSURE…
HOW IT WORKS
A brass hand-wheel starts the film. It turns when you hover and press it, and comes back when the film ends.
The timeline is a glass tube between brass couplings. Water with bubbles fills it as the film plays. Drag the collar to seek.
Slide the brass regulator, scroll over it, or use the arrow keys. The pressure gauge needle shows the level.
Nothing on the machine is decoration. The cabinet on the right slides in and out: REELS jumps to a part of the film, SETUP holds speed, captions and loop. Pull the TANK lever to slide out the water tank: it fills as the film loads and shows the buffer in percent, and its red lamp stops the film and its red tap rewinds 10 seconds.
KEYBOARD
Space / K play · ← → 5 s · J L 10 s · ↑ ↓ pressure · M shut the valve · C captions · F fullscreen
THE SKIN ON ITS OWN
Without the machine around it, and with --media-accent-color: #e8a24a for amber oil instead of water.