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May 22, 2016 4:42 AM   Subscribe

Miranda July (previously), Paul Ford (MeFi's own; previously) and Starlee Kine (previously) team up for a presentation with a twist at Rhizome's Seven on Seven 2016. (Spoilers below.)

As described by attendees, it caused feelings of both flattery and dread.

Though it touches on issues such as privacy, homogenization and privilege, its primary intention is to explore the concept of narrative, as culled from raw personal data available online.

(The link is straight to the beginning of the piece. Via waxy links.)
posted by progosk (10 comments total) 21 users marked this as a favorite
 
Wow. This is amazing, and I think respectfully done, but at the same time super scary.
posted by motdiem2 at 6:43 AM on May 22, 2016


Fantastic. Will watch a thousand times. Miranda July is literally terrifying
posted by ankurd at 7:17 AM on May 22, 2016 [1 favorite]


When they started giving out addresses and phone numbers, all the hair on my body stood on end.
posted by hippybear at 8:45 AM on May 22, 2016 [1 favorite]


I had no idea what this was as I watched it; felt like one of the best ways to experience it. That mystery they described absent was built into the form for me.

I was looking for climax, a political twist, something tragic, or absurd and I didn't find it and I wonder if, more than privacy, homogeneity, danger, memory, if that's the most revealing critique of the life this work lays bare or barely there
posted by an animate objects at 8:51 AM on May 22, 2016


Glad Joe made it this long. He wasn't a bad dog.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:04 AM on May 22, 2016


Oh my god I'm in a fucking tank
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:10 AM on May 22, 2016 [3 favorites]


There's a scene in the novel Lady of Mazes, which is set in a post singularity future, the Archipelago, full of trillions of people, where one of the characters has abandoned her original goals to lose herself in a virtual world. She's visited by her old friend...
"Well, I've been exploring," he said. "Let me show you something." And right next to my light sculpture, he opened a window. Visions unfolded in that window like flowers opening in the sun — first dozens, then as Charon's query raced through the worlds of the Archipelago, hundreds, thousands of subwindows floated in an infinite space next to my sculpture. They rotated in and out of focus at the front of the field. And, in each one of them, a young woman stood in front of a half-finished light sculpture. "This is what's happening right this second, all across the Archipelago," said Charon. "I simply asked inscape to show me all the publically accessible feeds from girls who are working with airblocks." The particulars were different — some of the girls stood outside, some inside, some in virtual spaces; some had white faces, some black, some blue and with any variety of genetically varied combinations of features. But out of trillions of people, it was inevitable that some large number of girls, basically human, all basically my age, would right now all be doing precisely what I was doing. I had never really understood that before.

"It gets better," said Charon. "Let's do a query on how many of diose sculptures are just like yours." "Stop," I said, but he went ahead with it, opening a second window — and there they were, dozens of girls making my sculpture. "And even better," he continued, enjoying the look of horror that must have stolen across my face then, "let's see how many of those girls are being mocked by a friend who's doing queries next to their work — " "Stop it!" I tried to hit him, though of course the etiquette fields of the house prevented the blow from landing. "Don't you get it?" he shouted as he retreated to the door. "You're wallpaper, Ishani. You can't have a thought that a million other people aren't having, you can't do anything that a million other people aren't also doing. It doesn't matter what you say or whether you live or die because a million other you's are there to take your place. So why should I care what you do to me? You're wallpaper. Wallpaper!" And so he fled. Of course he did care, but I was too young to see that. But he had opened a pit at my feet. I stopped working on the sculpture and stared aghast at the windows.
posted by euphorb at 12:51 PM on May 22, 2016


Her name is Starlee Kine, with no L in the last name--maybe you could fix your tag and ask the mods to fix the post text?
posted by theatro at 12:59 PM on May 22, 2016


my bad - tag amended, mods: please spellfix the FPP?
posted by progosk at 1:16 PM on May 22, 2016


Mod note: fixed spelling
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 1:26 PM on May 22, 2016


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