[oldboys] The Return of The Media Hype (2)

[Cornelia Sollfrank <cornelia@snafu.de>]

C.S.: In the press release you say that ’biennale.py' has especially been conceived for the Biennale. Was it a commissioned work?

01.: Not directly, but we spent part of the money we got as our fee from the Biennale on the project. In addition, this years' Biennale is sponsored, amongst others, by Microsoft. Therefore, we could conclude that our virus has been sponsored by Microsoft.

We were interested in checking out how free we were regarding the work we wanted to present here. Writing a virus is not illegal, but spreading it is illegal. The author is not responsible for what other people do with it. We gave our virus to the Biennale and asked them to put the code on their website. And they did it. Technically, they are spreading the virus as much as we are. We are interested in the conflict that evolves when we offer a piece of work which is illegal to a big institution which has invited us. They have to accept it and at the same time they have to take the responsibility for it. Furthermore, the virus is being spread by the people who wear the t-shirts with the code. Theoretically, they could also be sued, as well as all the magazines and websites such as ’Domus',’Mute', or 'Wired' which are going to print the code of the virus.

C.S.: That means you yourself try to stay on the safe side, and make mostly others do the dirty work for you?

01.: Exactly.

C.S.: But, you are just playing with the notion of crime. Taking a closer look shows that you are doing nothing illegal. You just let other people spread your harmless virus! That's it.

01.: Yes.

C.S.: I would like to compare your work to an action of the German artist Ulay, who had announced in the 70s in an art magazine that he was going to steal a painting from a museum. Nobody had taken him serious until he had, in fact, stolen a 19th century painting from the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin. He had brought it to a Turkish family in Berlin Kreuzberg where they hung it on their living room wall. In terms of transparency and crime this action has parallels to yours, but the difference is that Ulay actually committed a crime, and that he personally has been made responsible and sued for this ’art crime'.

01: Even if we have always considered this action as one of the most interesting ever, we definitely prefer Erik Hobijn's theft of a drawing by Keith Haring from the Stedelijk Museum in 1983: not only he didn't go to prison, but he even got a ransom.

C.S.: What would your exact goal be? You're doing nothing criminal, and you are making your action explicitly as artists in an artcontext. That's why nobody would sue you in the end, and if, you would even profit from it for your own propaganda. Furthermore, your action here will not have any influence on further criminalization of hackers and crackers. And honestly, don't you think that the art system lives on the production and celebration of taboo breaking? The more radical art seems to be the better for the institution, at least, as long as it does not cause real trouble--like your virus. 

01: This is the same old excuse that mediocre artists use to jusify their arty-farty work. Our action could set a precedent, so that in future cases viruses could be declared as works of art.

C.S.: Do you mean that any programmers who cause troubles and serious damage with viruses etc. should refer to your action and call themselves artists in order not to be made responsible for what they were doing?

01: Yes.

C.S.: Sorry, but this sounds naive to me. Who defines that somebody is an artist? It is a complex process of self-proclamation, acting, reference, and acceptance by a system. I would doubt that a judge would be willing to accept that a dangerous virus-programmer suddenly has turned into an artist, refering to your precedent. Maybe, the only way would be, if you are really serious with that concern, that you declare future virus writers, who are sued for what they're doing, as members of your group, i.e. the guy who has recently been sentenced in Bologna. You already have the legitimation of the art system, so it might turn into a really interesting case in terms of checking the limits of art conception.

01: Thanks, we'll keep this for the next Biennale.

C.S.: But before that, I would doubt that the people you pretend to work for find out at all about your action. Although there are national differences, the worlds of hackers, artists and political activists are pretty much separated. There is not just different motivations behind these different activities, but often fundamentally different strategies in following goals, which seem not to go together very well. For example, political activists often tend to understand art as a source to deliver mere illustrations of their goals, or they are afraid that their political credibility might be reduced when their battle is related to art.

01: While most people think in watertight compartments, some of the most interesting and succesful actions are produced by the combination of different knowledges. Have a look at Mongrel, I/O/D/, Electronic Disturbance Theatre, Rtmark, Surveillance Camera Players, Negativland, just to mention a few examples. Making the hacking, art and activist scene join, you obtain a bomb. This is necessary not only for technical reasons, but also for marketing and selling. One of our goals at the Biennale is to sell the virus, to make money out of it.

C.S.: How much are the CD-ROMs?

01.: 1.500 USD each.

C.S.: It is now one week after the opening. Have you already sold any copies?

01.: We have already sold two of them to private collectors.

C.S: Is this what you mean by having/placing a bomb? Creating and selling a product which generates money?

01: A bad idea perfected is better than a good idea attempted.

C.S.: Thank you for the conversation. I am looking forward to your future bombings;-)




*** Subject: help
Date: Wed, 13 Jun 2001 11:07:43 +0200
From: "Carolyn R. Miller" <crmiller@ncsu.edu>
To: biennale.py@0100101110101101.ORG



I think I may have gotten the biennale.py virus from the website of your collaborator, 0100101110101101.ORG.  I read the press release, which was circulated on AIR-L and visited both websites, but at the
0100101110101101.ORG website I got caught in an approval loop that seemed to tell me that "now we're in your computer."  I certainly did NOT know when I went to the site that this would happen and I did not voluntarily download any virus.

48 hours later or so I started having major problems.  I run a MacG3, OS 8.6.  I can't find any information on an internet search about how to get rid of the virus, so I hope you can tell me what to do.

Thanks,

Carolyn Miller
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC  USA

[on request I will send the edited version as rtf file]

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:::::"A smart artist makes the machine do the work"::::::::::::::::::::::::
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::::::::::::::::::::::: [net.art generator]: http://www.obn.org/generator :
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:Cornelia Sollfrank | Rutschbahn 37 | 20146 Hamburg | Germany :::::::::::::
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