When one first enters Puppet Motel, the careful use of stereo sound is obvious as the wolf howl coincides with the glowing electrical socket (plug). The plug is an important concept for navigation. You are asked to “...sign the register [as] frequent visitation carries its rewards” (Anderson 1995, CD ROM Documentation). Once you type your name and press return, a stereo zap synchronized with an animation leads you into the work.

Opening Screen

The central space you enter first is the Hall of Time. This space has two sound layers and animation in potentially 6 areas of the screen. One layer of sound contains a mixture of tapping sounds and synthesized pads arranged in a wide stereo field. The second layer consists of electronic voices. This layer of voices starts and fades out periodically.

Electronic Voice Sound Layer from Hall of Time

[female electronic voice] The time is now eight o’clock and one seconds P M the time is now eight o’clock and two seconds P M the time is now eight o’clock and three seconds P M.

[4 seconds]

[male electronic voice] The time is now eight o’clock and one seconds P M the time is now eight o’clock and two seconds P M the time is now eight o’clock and three seconds P M.

[4 seconds]

[female electronic voice] This is the time, [2 seconds] and this is the record of the time. [2 seconds] We are in record. [1 second, record pronounced reh - cord] We are in record. [record pronounced reh - cord]

[female electronic voice] I’ll be with you. [male electronic voice] I’ll be there. [female electronic voice] I’ll be with you. I’ll be there.

Visually, the Hall of Time appears as a long corridor with side walls but no floor. Icons of the different rooms appear over a rolling cube on the left wall. You can click on these icons to move to a room. Movement in time is flexible and can be adjusted forward/stopped/backward at different rates. This movement is indicated by the left wall moving into the screen or out, rotating clocks in the ‘floor’ and the rolling cube. A door with a drape flowing in the wind sits on the right. When the door is clicked, time stops and icons change quickly on the left allowing a quick way of getting to a specific room. As well, the previously static red and white icons begin floating up out of the floor. These icons indicate the rooms previously visited.

The Hall of Time

Clicking on the Plug Room icon, when it appears, causes the screen and sound to fade to black. In the journey to the Plug Room (and between any of the rooms) one encounters small black and white images combined with short (5 second) sound clips. One image and one sound are randomly chosen for each journey between rooms.

Hall Images

The Plug Room is a wall of Plugs. Moving the cursor reveals an individual plug on the wall and plays a sound clip. Sound clips fade in and out as the cursor enters and leaves a plug. The clips consist of Anderson whispering different stories. The content of these stories relates to the room that the particular plug leads. Clicking on a plug goes to another room. As well, plugs that are not under the cursor, glow as if lit from behind.

The Plug Room

From the Hall of Time, clicking on the fish icon takes one to the Aquarium. Here the mouse moves a rotating human figure wearing a deep diving suit. Moving the mouse left and right moves the rotating figure left and right. Moving the mouse up and down moves the rotating figure forward and back. One gets a feel for movement in space. When the rotating person gets close to one of three objects in the room, that object joins you (the figure) and you rotate with it. The three objects are a fish, a nun and a motorcycle. When rotating with the objects, Anderson tells a story. One can switch partners by moving close to another object. Clicking causes air bubbles to float from the figure’s mouth. To leave this room, and return to the Hall of Time, one must click and hold the mouse button on one area of the sea floor to cause the plug to appear. Back to the Hall of Time...

The Aquarium