The Twit-o-logical Mechanism

THE TWIT-O-LOGICAL MECHANISM

(response to Paul Klee's Twittering Machine. URL: https://www.moma.org/collection/works/37347 )

Precision is essential to operating the machine. That statement is very true despite what some call the whimsical form of the device. For one, it takes exactly three pounds of force per square inch to turn the fitted handle. Any less proves futile. Any more poses risk of machine implosion. A game enthusiast, heedless of what was required, once revved the handle that hard both it and the transmission bar adjoined burst into a thousand, random bits. The parts had to be reassembled at great cost to the machine owner. Properly instructed, however, most people turn the handle without such embarrassing incident.

When the transmission bar is set going at the optimal revolutions per minute, the coiled wire will activate. Each coil on it is looped two hundred ninety degrees to allow the best force transmission along the line. As a carefully calibrated piece of the apparatus, the wire must stay free of interference. Definitive warping will follow otherwise. In one noteworthy case, a little girl grabbed the turning wire, supposing it a twisted-up Slinky; the immediate effect was that the coils flew out of rotation and enwrapped her body whole. To get free, the child in her coils had to be spun like a toy top, which made her giddy. But I’m glad to say the professionals recovered and refitted the wire.

Presuming it turns as intended, the rotating wire transmits to the avian sonic outlets arranged above it on verticals. These outlets represent the finest science can achieve in sound production and efficiency. In essence, the more joules of power go up the verticals, the greater pitch and variety of sound the outlets create. A certain elderly woman, recently interviewed by The Post, likened it to birds twirping in the park. However, tests of the machine's sonic range have not confirmed that opinion.   

Norbert Kovacs lives and writes in Hartford, Connecticut. He has published short fiction in Blink Ink, Corvus Review, MacQueen's Quinterly, and Ekphrastic. His website: www.norbertkovacs.net.