I discovered the spark for Ask Karl The Fog buried in a book of kinetic art. There it was: an old fortune teller with pull cords that revealed answers. You asked it a question and pulled one of the cords for the answer. The problem was, each pull would expose its secret and the fortune teller would no longer be very inticing. I knew I could build something better, something that could surprise you every single time.

I wanted to make something local, something San Francisco. But who would serve as an avatar? The answer came to me on Twitter: Karl the Fog! And this also gave me an opportunity to add a mechanical element, namely a conveyor belt of fog.

Hidden behind the panel is an Arduino that drives 6 servo motors. When the viewer cranks a handle on the front, puffs of cotton fog roll past an image of the Golden Gate Bridge. After a random amount of turns, a foghorn sounds and a large arcade button lights up. The viewer then presses the button and one of the six servos will show an answer. The answers are similar to the Magic 8 Ball, being vaguely positive or negative but never definitive

I built the enclosure with quarter-inch plywood, leaving the sides open so the answers can rotate out like a semaphore signal. Burgundy paint with gold lettering transforms the piece from a collection of parts into a Victorian-style curiosity.

When you crank the handle, everything comes to life. The mechanical belt moves the fog unpredictably. Then a foghorn sound blasts. A large arcade button lights up, inviting you to unlock the machine’s secret. Press it, and one of six servo motors would rotate, revealing a cryptic answer as mysterious as San Francisco fog itself.

 

Solving the mechanical puzzle consumed me. I spent weeks testing servo movements, programming random triggers, ensuring each interaction felt just right. The whole thing is powered by a simple USB power brick or even a USB battery.

I first showed Ask Karl The Fog at my artist residency at Playland at 43rd, then at a B0ardside art show, and then again at the Hunt and Gather gallery on Irving Street. People would interact with it, their faces lighting up with a mix of curiosity and delight. Each turn of the crank, each revealed message was a small moment of mechanical magic.

More than an art piece, it is a conversation between technology and imagination—a way to capture the spirit of uncertainty, the playful randomness of a city wrapped in fog.