 Cask (1995)
Oak wine barrel, computer, LCD display;
22x15x15"; 15lbs.
Status: available
Cask is a metaphoric model of the primordial soup. This electronic, time based
sculpture is developing the capacity for speech over a period of many years.
At its inception, the LCD screen in the bottom of the barrel was mostly blank, with
occasional random characters flashing here and there. Over the past year, the
incidence of characters has increased. At this time there is frequent random
activity on the screen, a kind of textual noise.
Soon, recognizable strings of letters will emerge. At the peak of its activity,
in about seven more years, the sculpture will be constructing complete sentences from its
nine word vocabulary (I, you, we, they, am, are, think, exist, therefore). These
will be random variations on Cogito ergo sum; for example, "I think, therefore they
exist," "You think you exist, therefore I am" and "They are therefore
they think."
Later, it will begin to lose this speech capacity, eventually devolving to noise.
It will then begin the cycle again.
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