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Object Overview
Irving P. Crick's 1949 Weather Guide is a remarkable blend of utility and artistry, where a smooth, silver aluminum plate serves as a canvas for the delicate dialogue between science and nature. This Cloud-Based Weather Forecaster is a masterpiece in its own right, with meticulously rendered scenes that echo the fleeting, often overlooked dramas played out in the skies. Each cloud type — cirrus, altocumulus, altostratus, nimbus, cumulus, and stratocumulus — is vividly embodied in a series of images. Seven of these (incl. clear sky) adorn the front, while the reverse side holds six complementary impressions, like an artist's study of weather’s shifting moods. Here, every etched form captures a suspended instant of atmospheric poetry, an ephemeral beauty solidified onto metal.
Beside each image lies a delicate compass rose, indicating wind directions — N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, NW — reminding the viewer that the symphony of weather is inseparably linked with the movement of air masses. Crick’s exquisite craftsmanship turns this device into a ritualistic object, inviting engagement with the elements. Using a knob at the bottom of the device, the user aligns the red indicator for the May to October period or the blue for October to May with the current sky condition and wind direction. Once set, the forecast appears in a separate window, as if nature itself unveils its secrets to the attentive observer.
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aluminium, paper, plastic
To aid in determining wind direction, a small compass is located at the top of the device, while on the reverse of the casing, detailed instructions guide the user through the intricacies of the guide. This model was specifically adapted for the South Central states — Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Eastern New Mexico — and is part of a series of seven such guides, each crafted for a particular region of the United States, each speaking its unique language of clouds and skies. Crick’s pocket weather guide transforms simple sky-watching into an act of participation, embodying the union of artistic mastery and meteorological insight — an admiration of nature’s endlessly shifting patterns.