261. Darned Ducks by Domstad Rudie

About "261. Darned Ducks"

by Domstad Rudie

About the artwork

On a digital platform under a steel-blue sky, absurdity strides by in the guise of three ducks. They waddle quietly along the edge of the longest place name board in the world: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllllantysiliogogogoch. The sign stretches like a jagged river of letters, a meandering testament to human tendency to exaggerate, to extend meaning ad infinitum. Below it, a phonetic guide appears, almost mocking in its attempt to make the unpronounceable yet accessible.

The ducks, however, do not seem to care about the language acrobatics hovering above them. Their gait is even, almost mechanical, as if they are following a mysterious rhythm that eludes humans. Questions of direction and escape resonate in their silent procession. For beside them, a bright red arrow points to "WAY OUT": the promise of a way out that always points to the left, but never becomes concretely visible.

The composition creates a play of contrasts: the weight of language versus the airiness of clouds, the banality of a station versus the playfulness of three ordinary birds. In this, a poetic tension emerges: as if the ducks are the true travellers, free of translations and exits, while humans remain trapped in signs and instructions.

Darned Ducks thus captures a moment where humour, absurdity and philosophy meet. A stop where letters multiply endlessly, but where meaning eventually descends in the simple step of a duck that only moves on.

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Digital artwork of your own design

Finished on: 2 July 2025