james earls & ben levinas' ritual vessel, altar, records touch and reminds you to breathe

james earls and ben levinas present altar

Initiated by Creative Director James Earls and industrial designer Ben Levinas, Altar evolved from conversations about our relationship with objects — how we arrange them, carry them, and engage with them in our spaces. What began as an observation about desk arrangements evolved into an exploration of how objects transcend utility to become active participants in daily rituals.

Standing at 70 centimeters tall, Altar operates in the space between timepiece and ritual vessel. Touch activates a precisely calibrated sequence that extends over 10.5 minutes: not long enough to become a burden, but just long enough to create a rift in routine. Cast in bronze, its weight and thermal mass create a sense of grounding. It will record touch. It will outlast trends, batteries, operating systems, and possibly you. Its form is both familiar and unplaceable — somewhere between a vessel from another century and something that could have been designed yesterday. Its form maintains a deliberate neutrality, honoring contemplative traditions without belonging to any specific one.

all images courtesy of James Earls

a meditative ritual vessel 

The bell within Altar produces tones whose intervals gradually extend throughout the session. These aren’t alerts. They’re invitations. Most objects want your attention. Altar wants your inattention — the kind that comes when you stop trying so hard to focus. There are no settings to adjust, no preferences to set, no profiles to create. Just a single touch. This limitation isn’t a bug; it’s the feature.

James Earls and Ben Levinas integrate the technology to exist exclusively in service of the material. Light and sound become perceptible breath — a mirror for something usually invisible. In an era of constant digital engagement, Altar provides an alternative, a moment of pause free from data collection and complexity. It invites reflection through tactile and sensory engagement rather than screens and notifications.

Altar reimagines our relationship with objects

cast in bronze, altar reacts to touch and time

You approach it. You place your hand on the cool surface. Light emerges from within as a bell tone sounds. The light pulses, growing brighter then dimmer in a rhythm that feels strangely attuned to your breath. Another bell rings, softer this time. You find yourself following the light without meaning to. Inhale as it brightens. Exhale as it dims. Ten minutes pass. You couldn’t say what happened during that time, only that you were somehow more present in it. Not relaxation exactly — more like a momentary suspension of background noise you’d forgotten was there.

Place Altar in your garden. Place it in your office. Place it in the corner of a room where you never quite know what to do. It creates its own context, with a gravity that subtly reorganizes the space around it. It’s a persistent invitation to a different mode of attention. You can walk past it a hundred times. The hundred-and-first time, you might touch it.

Altar occupies the space between problem and solution — the space where meaning happens. It’s an object that doesn’t justify itself through utility alone, but through the quality of engagement it facilitates. It’s about the space we give to ourselves; a proposition about how we create moments of meaning in our surroundings. Through its presence and subtle guidance, it invites a return to elemental experiences — breath, light, sound, and touch.

created by James Earls and Ben Levinas

touch activates a precisely calibrated sequence that extends over 10.5 minutes

Altar operates in the space between timepiece and ritual vessel

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project info:

name: Altar: A Singular Focus
designer: ProtoÉditions — Ben Levinas, James Earls

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