The tray on a wooden nightstand beside a lamp and a mug in warm evening light, its two little figures sitting upright at the back

Us, Here A Little Closer

Lay both phones face down on it, and the two little figures lean in until their heads touch.

Apart

Two figures sit side by side at the back of the tray, eyes closed, with 0.5 in of air between their heads. Nothing is on the seats, so nothing moves.

The seat

Each figure rides on its own long seat, and each seat turns on a pin at either end. The thin lip along its inner edge is where a phone will press.

Phone down

A phone, drawn here as an outline, goes face down across the seat: one long edge on that inner lip, the other on the frame's rail.

Leaning in

The phone's weight lands inside the pin, so the seat rolls 11° toward the middle and its figure leans in. The other one keeps sitting up.

Both down

Put the second phone down and the other seat rolls too. At about 9° each, the two heads meet in the middle.

Lift

Pick a phone up and the seat's own weight, which sits just outside its pin, rolls it back. The figure sits up again and waits.

Up close

It measures 7.0 × 8.5 × 2.9 in and weighs 4.7 oz: a smaller footprint than a sheet of letter paper, and light enough to move with one hand. Keep it where the phones land at the end of the day.

On a coffee table beside a mug of tea and a paperback, seen from behind: the two figures with their heads together
From the sofa side: both phones are down, and the two of them have their heads together.
The two figures from the front, sitting upright and apart in their block
Phones up: two calm faces, sitting a little apart.
From behind and to one side, the two round heads leaning into each other over the block
Phones down: from behind, the two heads rest on each other.
Looking straight down: the rounded frame, two long seats with their inner lips, and the block with two heads at the top
From above: two long seats, one for each phone, side by side in one frame.
At night by a bedside lamp, a phone lies face down on the right-hand seat, just in front of the two figures
Bedtime, by the lamp: the first phone goes face down on its seat.

It takes two phones.

Nothing joins the two seats. One phone tips one figure 11° toward the middle, and the other keeps sitting up, waiting for a phone of its own. Only with both phones down do the two lean together, at about 9° each, until their heads touch.

Try it: put a phone down on either side.

Both phones up. The two sit apart.

Seen from the front, drawn from the piece's own shape; the dots are the pins each seat turns on, and the lamplit bars are the phones.
From the front, one figure leans toward the middle while the other sits upright
One side down: the right-hand figure has leaned in; the left one still sits up.

Us, Here — A Little Closer

Two phones down. A little closer.

Two figures, two seats, one frame.

2
seated figures with closed eyes and folded arms
2
long seats that tip, one for each phone
1
frame that holds both seats on their pins
Size
7.0 × 8.5 × 2.9 in
Weight
4.7 oz
Material
PLA
One phone
its figure leans 11° toward the middle
Both phones
about 9° each, heads touching
At rest
0.5 in between the heads
Seat length
8.4 in
Power
none: no batteries, no electronics, nothing to plug in
The whole piece from the front corner, both figures sitting upright at the back of the tray

Good to know

Does it need batteries, or charge my phone?

Neither. Nothing in it is powered: no batteries, no cable, no charging pad. The figures move only because a phone is lying on their seats.

What makes a figure lean?

Each seat turns on a pin. A phone laid face down rests on the seat's inner lip, inside that pin, so its weight rolls the seat 11° toward the middle and the figure on it leans in.

And what makes it sit back up?

The seat itself. Its own weight sits just outside the pin, so with the phone lifted it rolls back until it lies flat and the figure is upright again.

Does one phone do anything on its own?

Yes: it tips the figure on its own side. The two seats are not joined, so each figure answers only to its phone. It takes both phones down for the two heads to touch.

What is it made of, and are phones included?

It is made from PLA and weighs 4.7 oz in all. The phones are your own; none come with it.