Maker Faire Austin 2008
The Moving Finger/ Meaning Machines


"the Moving Finger writes, and having writ, moves on..." This transient optical experience presents one of the five Fitzgerald translations of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. The poems are “written” onto a spherical shell of space by a multicolor LED which is mounted on the end of a mechanical “finger,” translating a 12th century Arabic poem into a language of fleeting streaks of color and electromechanical chirping. Dynamo-powered oracles accompany this performance.

Web site: http://www.abbydonovan.com

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About the Maker(s)

Abby Donovan
An artist whose work investigates the abstract materiality of language and symbols. She currently teaches at the University of Delaware and recently completed a project in Germany.
http://www.abbydonovan.com