LOCATION: Mark McDonald Ltd, 555 Warren Street

VIEWABLE: 24 hours a day for LCD Screens on 1st Floor. After sunset for 2nd floor projection

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: "PLAIN TEXT"

The Plain Text series plays on the “infinite monkey theorem.” It states that given an infinite amount of monkeys, typewriters, and time, the monkeys will type out any particular text you choose. If one instructs the monkeys (or monkey simulators), to type the King James Bible, one of them eventually will. Interestingly, this also includes all the text that you did not choose or any text that might ever be written. Here, Fernando Orellana applies a version of this theorem to a series of short phrases that, over an extended period of time, cycle through every possible permutation of themselves. One of the phrases on exhibition will be: “You want _ _ _ _ _ _.”

Starting right-to-left – like an odometer, only with letters – all the blank spaces in the phrase sequentially cycle through every letter in the alphabet. By this method, every word that is six characters long will eventually appear in the phrase above. Differing in theme, amount of blank spaces, and speed, each piece in the series has a different phrase displayed by itself on a large LCD screen. Two of these phrases will be on display in the vestibules of the Mark McDonald store, along with one large phrase projected on the store’s second-floor windows.

ABOUT THE ARTIST:

Fernando Orellana was born in El Salvador, San Salvador in 1973 and immigrated to Florida in 1979. There he received his high school diploma (1992) and began university education at Broward Community College. In 1994 he moved to Chicago, Illinois where he studied at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago receiving his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Art and Technology in 1998. He recently received his Master of Fine art Degree from The Ohio State University 2004.

He has exhibited in galleries nationally and internationally including, The Ark: A Cultural Center for Kids (Dublin, Irleand), BEAP (Biennial for Electronic Art Perth), Perth, Australia, Art Chicago 2004 (Chicago, IL), Fergus Gilmore Gallery (Columbus, OH), Kline Works (Chicago, IL.), Eyebeam (New York City), 1/Quarterly gallery (Chicago, IL.), Swanson-Read Gallery (Louisville, KY), Siggraph 2002 (San Antonio, TX), MACC Gallery (Moberly, MO), The Late Show (Kansas City, MO), Sotheby's/Artlink galleries (Tele Aviv, London, and New York), The Freeark Gallery (Chicago, IL.), Gallery 2 (The Art Institute of Chicago), The Betty Rymer Gallery (The Art Institute of Chicago), The Contemporary Art Work Shop (Chicago, IL.) and others.

He has also shown in collaboration with (art)n Laboratory at The Graduate Center Art Gallery, The Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Siggraph 2000/2001, Art Chicago 2000/2001, Chicago Midway Airport (Battle of Midway Monument) and others.

Orellana has received Honorary Mention at Vida 7.0 Art and Artificial Life International Competition, the Edith-Fergus Gilmore Scholarship Award (2004), the Texas Instruments "Digital Intelligence" finalist award (2003), the Edith-Fergus Gilmore Materials Grant from OSU (2003), The School of The Art Institute's BFA Fellowship Award (1998), the Koppler Grant from UIC (2000), Art Link/Sotheby's International Young Art Competition Finalist (1999), Missouri State Arts Council Grant (2001) and The Broward Community College Merit Award (1995).

He has been reviewed on Technikart Futur (2005), Alive Columbus, OH (2005), RealTime Australia (2004), NewCity (2004), NPR (WBEZ - FM Radio) (2004), CNN (2003), Wired Online (2003), The Leonardo Electronic Almanac in conjunction with sine::apsis (1998), NPR (WFPL - FM Radio) 7min. preview segment (2002), The Pitch, KC (2001), The Chicago Reader (2000) and others. He has also lectured at Diseno Visual, Manizales, Columbia, The University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Southern California, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Northwestern University and Moberly Community College.

Currently he resides in Albany, NY developing a Digital Arts Program for Union College Schenectady, NY. He continues to explore different aspects of visual communications using both traditional and experimental art media.

Artist Website: www.fernandoorellana.com