Pigeon Clock / Die Taubeuhr, 2011
cuckoo clock, Pigeon's ornament, wood, oil-based paint, x 20 x 18 x 10cm, Duration Variable
Cuckoo clocks from Germany (Switzerland), which tell the time by singing, are known as "pigeon clocks" # in Japan. So I assumed that the voice of the bird is really the sound of pigeons, even though its shape and chirp are obviously of a cuckoo. The name "pigeon" made me believe that pigeons sing, and furthermore the Japanese onomatopoeic words of pigeon's singing affected my perceptions. So I made the work by crystallizing the images of "pigeon" in order to show the possibilities that a certain sound can be affected and perceived differently by various informations such as assumptions or linguistic expressions formed by memories, experiences, visual elements and illusions.
# There are some theories why "cuckoo clock" is called "pigeon clock" in Japan; One of them is the bad images of cuckoo's singing, that they sing at economical depressions. So the name "pigeon" replaced cuckoo because it is much more familiar in Japan