The Sledgehammer Keyboard is a scaled-up version of the classic desktop peripheral we use every day. The first iteration, released in 2005, is six feet wide, and features cast silicone keys that weigh one kilogram each. These keys cannot be activated without the heavy impact of a hammer, elbow, or similar forceful implement. There is no delete key.

Unlike most technology, which seeks to streamline the user experience, SHKB makes writing absurdly difficult. At exhibition, the work fosters an exuberant environment, prompting the audience to author a collaborative document that is equal parts heartfelt, thought-provoking, and profane. The resulting text is projected live and uncensored, in order to offer the most honest accounting of the audience and their desire to communicate.

As Sledgehammer Keyboard has been shown in Chicago, Austria, and India. It has been fascinating to track how different people interact with the device; children really get into it, while adults often run out of steam after banging out one or two words (despite possessing significantly more upper-body strength). In Austria, the work was installed in a public square, yet the teens drinking at the local bars never thought to pick up the hammer and put it through the attached flatscreen monitor, as I would expect in Chicago. In India, the crowd was so dense that each person only had time to leave a single letter, yet this did not diminish the enthusiasm of the audience.

Here is some text produced by SHKB when it was on exhibition in Chicago’s Roger’s Park neighborhood:

SAY CHEESE.MOST EXCELLET NT. FIURATIVELY SPEAKI LIKE ISI EARILE… EVERYBODY LOVES IDEAS
LOOK AT ALL THEM LETTERS
NWODPOT
NWODPOT
I AM HITTIN BUSH.
CONDOS SUCK.
EVERYONE ISSO MAD
WHATS UP WIT DAT.
PUPPIES.
ROMANMARBLE COPIES OF REEK BRONZE COPPERTONE BABES.
DDDKLAAKE .ONE WORLD ONE PEOPLE PEACE
DEAR DIARY…
TYPE SOMETHING GOOD
NBVCTESSICAJLOVENOTWAR
SUPCHICAGO
THE ADVENTURES OF DUM DUM AND MR. WIGGLES
GOODJOBTAYLOR
.MIKE UCKS
GORDON WAS HEER
G
LAUREN CANT SPELLHMEGANALEXAUVMOBRTYCJKIMDA
GEORGE U
GEORGE BUSH DONT LIKE BLACK PEOPLE
EVAMOMMYLOVESEVALOVESMOMMY
LOTOFWORKTHANKS