MB&F today launches Legacy Machine N° 1 Xia Hang, a performance art machine that adds a sculptural touch to the vertical power reserve of the MB&F LM No.1.
Featuring a futuristic sculpture by Chinese artist Xia Hang, this collaboration of the minds of MB&F founder Max Büsser, Hang, and friends, creates a dream Machine full of life.
More specifically, the dial on the latest gold-cased edition features a 4mm aluminum sculpture that the watch’s owner can breath life into with the shake of the wrist or a turn of the crown.
The sculpture is a creature appropriately named Mr. Up and Mr. Down who is used to identify the watch’s level of the power reserve in a playful manner. When the vertical power reserve indicator is at full power, Hang’s sculpture sits tall and is Mr. Up.
As the 45-hour power-reserve decreases, Mr. Up slumps into Mr. Down. The half-alien and half-baby creature is a representation of Hang’s early ‘comma men’ sculptures originally created with chrome-plated stainless steel.
In the Legacy Machine N° 1 Xia Hang, Mr. up and Mr. Down conceal a hinge that allows for this movement. The sculptures here are created in aluminum to reduce weight, which in turn requires less energy from the movement. The little men are formed with three separate components of aluminum milled from one solid block and then are finished by hand with a very high polish to ensure the similarities to Hang’s original comma men.
Büsser and Hang were originally introduced by a Chinese art collector and both instantly realized their similar affinity for their passion of kinetic machines while at the same time they do not take life too seriously. Hang explains his admiration for Büsser, “When I first met Max he was wearing a HM3 and I loved the playful sculptural nature of it. Through him, I learnt that watches could also be very creative. I admire Max’s passion in finding artists who share similar tastes and the MB&F M.A.D. Gallery in Geneva is one of my favorite art galleries in the world. I hope to be able to collect Max’s watches one day and I think that MB&F’s mechanical artwork is unsurpassed. I am very pleased to have had the opportunity to collaborate with MB&F, their Machines inspire me.”
Only 24 Legacy Machine N°1 Xia Hang will be created, a limited edition of twelve pieces in red gold and twelve pieces in white gold. Each Machine is accompanied by large-scale versions of Mr. Up and Mr. Down in stainless steel and signed by Xia Hang.