Video'd by my son Chris (in Austin, Texas):
Background: "Inspired by the 18th-century robotics of Wolfgang Von Kempelen, Kempelen’s Owls... is an interactive sculpture that fosters curiosity. Two Texan great horned owls, each standing ten feet tall and constructed of layered metal and composite materials, perch atop dodecahedrons and silently observe their surroundings. The interactive features of the work are hidden, awaiting discovery by visitors who can activate them to trigger movement in the owls."
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10 comments:
Robots? Wait just one darned minute... Wolfgang von Kempelen doesn't have much to do with robotics other than to have preyed upon the credulity of the rich and powerful who were in awe of the automata created by the true mechanical geniuses of the Enlightenment. Von Kempelen is infamous for the Turk, an elaborate hoax that purported to be a chess-playing automaton. Actually, the "machine" was mostly a blind concealing a human chess player who manually operated the Turk's hands and arms to move the chess pieces and other perform other illusions, such as smoking a long pipe. The mechanical bits, the gears, cogs, and levers, simply spun, moved, whirred, and clicked under spring tension and accomplished nothing other than to lend verisimilitude to the hoax.
These sculptures are called Kempelen's Owls. Why? If the artist(s) wish to honor the history of mechanical engineering that has led to our current science of robotics, then why not name them Jaquet-Droz Owls after the father-and-son team who created real self-regulated automata? The clear implication is they are also hoaxes, like Wolfgang von Kempelen's Turk. The background article says viewers trigger the owls motion and lighting effects by their actions. If "Kempelen's Owls" means what I think it means, that's bullshit. A Kempelen owl is operated by an unseen human, Something rather easily accomplished using G5 wireless technology and someone viewing the live feed from a mesh of disguised video cameras.
The eyes remind me of a display at Mt. Vernon, a sculpture modeled on a life impression of George Washington's face. The relief is concave, and as you move from one side to the other, the face seems to follow you. Eerie. No moving parts required.
It’s a cultural appropriation from totem poles. Tear it down. No justice no Owls.
I like it too. Needs a sound effect though.
The birds are not real
So surprising to see that pop up here today. I was in Austin last Wed-Sat and Friday morning I had coffee at the Intelligentsia Coffee shop that is right in front of the two owls. I took several pictures of them myself. I had visited Mount Bonnell for sunrise. It turns out that it's more a sunset rather than sunrise place but that was okay. Then I went to see the iconic Daniel Johnston mural near UT. I was ready for coffee by that time and it led me to the coffee shop. It's a nice area and after coffee I explored around there for several hours. I ended up sitting by Lady Bird Lake and watching the paddle boarders, kayakers, and swan paddle boaters for a while. Austin is a lot cooler place to explore than I expected. I was a reverse snob about Austin but I may have come around. Almost all the people I encountered from bars to trails were very cordial and good conversationalists even though I suspect many were communists. We kept our politics to ourselves.
Texas Great Horned Owls sounds like a species rather than Great Horned Owls that live in Texas. They are common all over the United States.
It needs a sign, "WOL."
Looks like some bizarre anime cat with dragon's feet. Dodecahedrons are pretentious, but I can understand why the artist made that choice.
I can't say if the owl is cool or ho-hum, but people do tend to fall in love with sculptures of the strangest things -- a clothespin, a spoon and cherry, a dadaist baboon, a mirrored coffee bean -- when the sculptures are big enough and the people are desperate to have a symbol for their city.
More the pity, the grackle sculpture outside City Hall was burned down a while back.
Grackles - a bird owls should eat more often!
https://www.kvue.com/video/news/crime/austin-grackle-sculpture-burned-city-hall/269-e59297b5-b463-4abc-8b23-86f0f4e4b398
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