on spam and viruses

Quoting Jim Andrews <[email protected]>:

> Good ideas are spread and propagated by consenting human beings who choose
> to spread the word, not by viruses and bots that simply propagate their
> creator's infantile willfulness.

There's a case to be made that the volume and duration of postings makes the
work sculpture. That their transgression makes them interrogative of
unexamined
social norms, which gives them critical content and value. And that this has
shocked the bourgeoisie, which you don't get too often these days, making it
radical.

To attempt to make that case would be academic narcissism hankering after the
decontextualised frisson of an unreflectively transgressive "real". Or would
it?

This is the problem with neoconceptualism: would it be if it wasn't? Or
rather,
is it or isn't it? There's assisted readymades and then there's making
something to nominate. The latter is more than a little suspect, a bit like
taking a felt pen to a laboratory mouse. If a spam flood attack wouldn't
ordinarily be art, which magical aura of art makes this spam flood attack
"art"? If this en-arted (created, nominated) spam flood attack is art, can I
nominate any real (authentic!) spam flood attack as (better!) art?
Particularly
one I might (or might not) unleash on the artist as an appropriation of their
ouvre to index its (presumably) vitally important content. Surely the Sistine
Chapel Ceiling of this particular genre would be a DDoS on the server hosting
the project (chosen randomly from a list of one).

Yeah, this (RAW) is the audience to expect to chin-stroke to the bone over a
(simulated?) flood attack. If we can ever be bothered to work out whether the
skript is functioning as intended or this is just technical as well as
conceptual incompetence. Where can we get the source?

The Tate buying a monoprint by someone who simply cannot draw is not
the same as
Rhizome Raw being graced by the genius of a would-be skript kiddie (please not
"hacker", we'll be at "hacktivism" next and then I will have to stab
someone to
death with their conference name badge). And I say this as someone who
can bang
out a decent nude as well as a decent killfile entry.

I, for one, welcome our new net.prick overlords.

- Rob.

[email protected] wrote:

> Where can we get the source?

http://triple-double-u.com/mailia/?s=download



–

hi all,

I am following this mi_go event with interest, resulting that conflicting emotion
are going through my body, from curiosity to irritation. I do have a question,
coming from a 'worm' illiterate, and it might be stupid, but is this intentional? Or
is this an experiment gone wrong? Is this person a known participant on the list?

A side thoughts on this is does it matter? from a human point of view, if this is an
experiment gone wrong maybe this person needs some tech help? Or are I am just
asking worm illiterate questions? Is this a worm?? Does soemone know of good
literature on worms and viruses??

And otherwise grounds for a very interesting and important discussion, I think. My
thoughts on this are not clear, and also a bit worried that through this I might
loose important emails. Hmmm, I have to run to work, but condemning someone for
this is an absolute NO for me. Keep the discussion going, I say.


chaio, jacky

http://www.jackysawatzky.net

The mailia piece was interesting in that it sparked more discussion on the
list than many another art work. Because it wrought havok with the list.
What better than something that directly operates forcefully on a list to
make people on a list take notice? So, yes, I agree that it is of interest.

And maybe it's round n of the 'communications revolution', but it'd sure be
great to see some useful viruses or spam, something toward a greater good,
rather than what is usually the impression one gets from spam and viruses,
which is of infantile willfulness that disregards the will and desires of
those on whom it operates.

What is "radical" in an age of terrorism?

ja
http://vispo.com

There -have- been "useful" viruses, insofar as ones have been written that scan
for other viruses and tell users how to update their systems, try to stop
spyware from installing itself, etc. In fact, the first virus ever written
[©Brain] was something of this nature - a program to keep people from pirating
software. Think Sony BMG copy-protected CDs.

The problem with such "benevolent" viruses is primarily
two-fold: 1) They are installing themselves on a user's computer and using that
computer's resources without the user's knowledge or consent, and 2) they are
often poorly written and inadvertently do damage to the computer in some way.
It's kinda like a bunch of honky missionaries going to the Congo to convert all
the ignorant darkies and save their souls - possibly well-intentioned, but
outrageously misguided, unneeded, presumptuous, invasive, and damaging.
-Alexis

ps: do we even want to go into the radical/terrorism-consti(p|n)ation
discussion? Isn't the answer the same as the one to the mailia question?
Accept that sometimes life will do what it will, including consternation/the
vapors/death+violence/mail bombs, but giving up freedoms to some higher power
to make it more sanitized isn't worth the trade-off?


On Tue, 11 Apr 2006, Jim Andrews wrote:

::Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2006 01:05:32 -0700
::From: Jim Andrews <[email protected]>
::To: [email protected]
::Subject: RE: RHIZOME_RAW: on spam and viruses
::
::The mailia piece was interesting in that it sparked more discussion on the
::list than many another art work. Because it wrought havok with the list.
::What better than something that directly operates forcefully on a list to
::make people on a list take notice? So, yes, I agree that it is of interest.
::
::And maybe it's round n of the 'communications revolution', but it'd sure be
::great to see some useful viruses or spam, something toward a greater good,
::rather than what is usually the impression one gets from spam and viruses,
::which is of infantile willfulness that disregards the will and desires of
::those on whom it operates.
::
::What is "radical" in an age of terrorism?
::
::ja
::http://vispo.com
::