Popcorn machine, black pedestal, red vinyl base, microphone, laptop with custom-written Morse code program, printed paper bags, popcorn, 90 x 90 x 72 inches, 2001
Talking Popcorn is a sound sculpture that evolved out of my interest in language, translation, and Morse Code. A microphone in the cabinet of the popcorn machine picks up sound of popping corn, and a computer hidden in the pedestal runs a custom-written program that translates the popping sounds according to the patterns and dictates of Morse Code. A computer-generated voice provides a simultaneous spoken translation.
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Listen to Talking Popcorn.
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Fifteen vacuum-formed plastic capsules with popcorn, printed paper and ink stamp, 2001
The Popcorn Journal is a running record of Talking Popcorn's speech. Each day during the exhibition, a sample of popcorn is placed in a capsule alongside a text output of the machine's complete speech for that day.
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Bronze popcorn kernels in velvet-lined wooden box, 2001
In imitation of the tradition of bronzing a baby's first pair of shoes, I decided to bronze Talking Popcorn's first word: "WE."
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