AfterImage | Another way to see the everyday.
Perfect Scores on the Dials
Words in the artwork
“Perfect scores on the dials. Destination undecided.”
The original Japanese artwork is shown unchanged.AfterImage by PROTHENTIA
Beside a carefully polished instrument panel, a person and an AI unfold a map. The work considers the distance between achieving numbers and reaching a place we want to go, placing measurement alongside a sense of direction.
Looking at the work
A large instrument panel carries several dials. Beneath it is something like a bicycle fixed to the floor. One person polishes the panel with a cloth while another looks up at it. Even the marks of light around it suggest that the apparatus for displaying numbers has been carefully maintained.
Pedaling would move the body and consume energy. Yet the fixed apparatus would not travel anywhere. The caption, “Perfect scores on the dials. Destination undecided,” makes that distinction visible. Improving a number and moving closer to a desired place sometimes coincide, and sometimes do not.
On the right, a person and a robot unfold a map. Beyond them, rising ground and a road lead toward distant buildings. The pair at the dashboard and the pair considering the destination can be read not as opposing sides, but as two kinds of attention that work requires.
Numbers are important clues for sharing change and supporting decisions. Yet as we keep polishing what is easy to measure, we can lose sight of what those numbers were meant to improve. If more items are processed, how does that change the time of the person who was struggling? Such experiences do not fit entirely onto a dial.
Even when AI organizes large amounts of information and helps with comparisons, it does not automatically decide what counts as a worthwhile change. If the map is something people and AI are still working through, rather than a ready-made answer, assessing outcomes continues after a target has been set.
The restrained line drawing places gleaming instruments beside a spacious landscape. It invites us to value the numbers achieved while also attending to changes beyond them. When the hands polishing the apparatus and unfolding the map serve the same purpose, another way of recognizing progress may emerge.
Where are those numbers taking you?
Beyond the numbers achieved, what changed for customers or the people doing the work? What is one measure you would reconsider?
Test the change you want to see beyond the numbers. In a free Bootcamp, work with people and AI to clarify the value you want to check and build a prototype that also helps you examine outcomes.
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