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Fernando Orellana:
Title: (614) 220-DUCK
Medium: Plastic, wood, aluminum, electronics, yarn.
Size: 20" x 6" x 4"
Year: January 2004
"(614)-220-DUCK is a commentary on the realization that all the communication power that our silicone age has generated can in the end only communicate things that are trivial. The viewer makes a phone call with their high-tech personal cell phone. This connects them via a string of satellites and control towers to a computer in another part of the world. Prompting them with audio instructions, this computer then sends out another signal to even more satellites and control towers, eventually coming full circle a few inches away from the initial transmission and into the electronic pager unit mounted on the wall. At this point the signal is captured by the sculpture's microprocessor, which has been monitoring the pager. When the processor's algorithm detects the signal, it triggers a servomechanism, which taps the wooden duck on the butt using a hand knitted swab. This causes the duck to tip slightly and then rock back and forth. A few moments later, when the call comes in again or a new call is made, the process is repeated."
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