Jan Bernstein – Infinite monkey

Infinite monkey

7-segment displays, steel, aluminium, magnets, motor, electronic
27 × 26 × 6 cm
2021

An almost square wall object that consists of several displays made up of seven bars and arranged in the form of two squares placed above each other.
We are familiar with these kinds of displays from calculators, digital watches or from panels at train stations. Here, the elements are permanently changing: sometimes they show numbers, sometimes letters or signs, sometimes indefinable. On the inside, magnets slowly rotate causing the white bars to flip randomly. The title refers to a mathematical theory: The “Theorem of the Endlessly Typing Monkey” states that a monkey which types endlessly and randomly on a typewriter will at some point write down the complete works of William Shakespeare – with the probability being close to zero.

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