Alan Sondheim on Mon, 7 Jun 1999 08:13:42 +0200 (CEST) |
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<nettime> description of ongoing work |
Internet Philosophy and Psychology - June.99 This is a somewhat periodic notice describing my Internet Text, available on the Net, and sent in the form of texts to various lists (Cybermind and fop-l, and sometimes cyberculture, all of which I comoderate). The URL is: http://www.anu.edu.au/english/internet_txt/ and the mirror (without java- sript, graphics, The Case of the Real, a short novel (Ma) or dhtml pages) is http://lists.village.virginia.edu/~spoons/internet_txt.html. The changing nature of the email lists, Cybermind and Fiction-of-Philoso- phy, to which the texts are sent individually, hides the full body of the work; readers may not be aware of the continuity among them. The writing may appear fragmented, created piecemeal, splintered from a non-existent whole. On my end, the whole is evident, the texts extended into the lists, part or transitional objects. So this (periodic) notice is an attempt to recuperate the work as total- ity. Below is an updated introduction. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The "Internet Text" currently constitutes around 90 files, or 2800 printed pages. It was started in 1994, and continues as an extended meditation on cyberspace. It began with a somewhat straightforward theoretical outline, and has expanded into wild theory and literatures. Almost all of the text is in the form of short-waves or long-waves. The former are the individually-titled sections, written in a variety of styles, and at times referencing other writers/theorists. The sections are heavily interrelated; on occasion emanations appear, "emanants" possessing philosophical or psychological import. They also create and problematize narrative substructures within the work as a whole. Such are Julu, Alan, Jennifer, Nikuko, in particular. Overall, I'm concerned with virtual-real subjectivities and their interpenetrations, in relation to various philo- sophical issues. Recently, I've been working with simple reworkings of the emacs doctor program, and writing dhtml pages, exploring parsing and rhe- torics of control, erotics, and sublimation. The long-waves are fuzzy loci bearing on such issues as death, love, vir- tual embodiment, the "granularity of the real," physical reality, computer languages, and protocols which weave throughout the texts. The resulting splits and coalescences owe something to phenomenology, deconstruction, linguistics, prehistory, programming, etc., as well as to the functionings of online worlds in relation to everyday realities. I have used MUDS, MOOS, talkers, perl, d/html, qbasic, linux, emacs, Cu- SeeMe, etc., all tending towards a future of being-and-writing, texts which act and engage beyond traditional reading practices. Some of the work emerges out of performative language such as computer programs or MOO commands which _do_ things; some emerges out of interference with these languages, or conversations using internet applications that are activated one way or another. There is no binarism in the texts, no series of definitive statements. Virtuality is considered beyond the text- and web-scapes prevalent now. The various issues of embodiment that will arrive with full-real VR are already in embryonic existence, permitting the theorizing of present and future sites, "spaces," nodes, and modalities of body/speech/community. Please check the INDEX to find your way into the earlier body of the work. The Case of the Real is useful. It is also helpful to read the first file, Net1.txt, and/or to look at the latest files (kw kx, etc., which are still to be indexed) as well. Skip around. The Index lists the files in which a particular topic is described; you can then do a search on the file, or simply scroll down (the files range in length from 30 to 50 pages in print). (Note: I have stopped working on the index; for the later files, I suggest you skim. Eventually, I need a site and a local search engine for the texts; at the moment, I apologize for the awkwardness of it all.) The texts may be distributed in any medium; please credit me. I would ap- preciate in return any comments you may have. See also: Being on Line, Net Subjectivity (anthology), Lusitania, 1997 New Observations Magazine #120 (anthology), Cultures of Cyberspace, 1998 The Case of the Real, Pote and Poets Press, 1998 Alan Sondheim 718-857-3671 432 Dean Street, Brooklyn, NY, 11217 mail to: sondheim@panix.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- # distributed via nettime-l : no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a closed moderated mailinglist for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: majordomo@desk.nl and "info nettime-l" in the msg body # URL: http://www.desk.nl/~nettime/ contact: nettime-owner@desk.nl