Prison Box * was created in early 1996 originally out of balsa wood - which was how I made all my prototypes for Tenyo. I remember being in bed with a pad of paper when I first thought up the concept. At first I drew a rectangle divided into three sections. I divided each section with a long vertical line and imagined what could this flat 2D sketch resemble in 3D. I just thought of the idea of metal bars with a ring on it. Then a Monkey Bar style effect. The first method I came up with for this was exactly the same as the method used now, but moving on a different plane (vertically instead of horizontally). This had a flaw which is why it was the horizontal method I used. When I showed my friends they loved it and wanted me to make them one. I had found it too time consuming to make though so I had to turn them down.

When I had my meeting with Tenyo in my home in 1997 (see Tenyo Meeting Gallery), I showed this effect to them. If you look closely in the gallery mentioned above you can see my prototype in a few of the photos. To be honest, this was the one I thought they would use first if they were to use one. I was surprised when it was not chosen then.

* The title Prison Box was thought of by Steve Cohen.

The packaged version, retail and prototype. My prototype was much

larger as you can see.

First prototype made out of balsa wood.

Tenyo prototype made out of plastic.

Tenyo prototype made out of plastic.

Final finished version - Tenyo product.