Dialectic with Jackson Dahl

Ep. 12 of /dialectic w/ Che-Wei Wang & Taylor Levy (CW&T)

CW&T are partners in life and work and make my favorite physical objects on the internet, from heirloom-quality pens and tools to art pieces that challenge and subvert our relationship with time.

They have backgrounds in industrial design, architecture, software, and film, and began collaborating after meeting at NYU ITP. They started on Kickstarter with Pen Type-A and have been releasing new creations ever since.

We discuss their fascination with time, commitment to making objects that last as long as they should, why prototyping is at the root of their practice, and how their work and studio will evolve with new technology.

As someone who is obsessed with time, reveres collaboration and spends too much of my life in digital space, I couldn’t have enjoyed this conversation more. I hope you appreciate their thoughtfulness, wisdom, and creativity—and feel inspired to be more present in the physical world.

Available on all platforms and X below.

CW&T on making weird things that matter, and creating objects that can't be categorized:

Taylor: "When you say art projects are things that lots of people don't want, I think it's important to not stop there and figure out how you can shift your way of thinking creatively as an artist to like, how can this actually touch people?"

Che-Wei: "That's definitely where we want to be as a studio—working on weird projects that are sort of outside of the normal categories of how products fit into categories. Some people find it really useful. Some people are like, I don't get it. And I think we’re okay with that."

Full episode available now.

Talk: /dialectic Write: jdahl.substack.com
Before: Investor /paradigm, Founding team /100thieves
jacksondahl.com
/jackson

so happy you interviewed these guys

i’ve been obsessed w the time capsule since i found it a few yrs back

listening now!