Tag: bridge

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The World’s Longest Collaborative Sentence

The World’s Longest Collaborative Sentence

“The Sentence has no end. Sometimes I think it had no beginning. Now I salute its authors, which means all of us. You have made a wild, precious, awful, delicious, lovable, tragic, vulgar, fearsome, divine thing.”

– Douglas Davis, 2000

What is “The World’s Longest Collaborative Sentence”?

“The World’s Longest Collaborative Sentence” is an collaborative and collective network based artwork created in 1994 by Douglas Davis, an artist and media teacher. Though considered as the “author” and “artist” this art piece, Douglas Davis publicly credits those who helped him design the website and other coworker on his website. This artwork is credited as one of the first couple artworks to utilize the World Wide Web after its creation and integration to mainstream society. “The World’s Longest Collaborative Sentence” started to take on a life of its own as viewers were given the opportunity and freedom to contribute to the sentence in what ever form or style they preferred. One can notice that there are some irregularities in format, theme, and basic flow of the sentences due to the a variety of people from all over the world. In 1995, “The World’s Longest Collaborative Sentence” was donated to the Whitney Museum and preserved there since then. In 2012, The Whitney Museum planned to reopen this art piece. However, due to the upgraded software of the 21st century and the outdated codes of 20th century, the website was unusable. This led to the eventual conclusion to create a duplicate of the original artwork embedded with modern coding and software that allows the duplicated version to be edited on. That version was opened online allowing a resurgence of this collaborative piece. The original version is still preserved in The Whitney Museum, though it has been locked from further edits with some of the links redirecting you to an external website.

What do I think the “The World’s Longest Collaborative Sentence” is really saying?

I believe that “The World’s Longest Collaborative Sentence” is an interactive record of human development and mindset as well as an ironic commentary on our current society. When “The World’s Longest Collaborative Sentence” was created, Douglas Davis probably had the intention for the website to continue for a long time. If the goal was to great a long collaborative sentence from people all around the world that has access to the World Wide Web, it could only be achieved if people continued to participate. The sentence’s humble beginning as a method of collecting honest feedback regarding a survey about his exhibition transformed into a platform where anybody can post what ever they want when ever they felt like it, regardless of the vulgarities or discrepancies with previous additions. This, in the end, has become a primary source that is still recording the true thoughts and behaviors of humans who tend to unleash their subconscious or emotions on the web. Humans tend to be more honest about their feelings or like to create a false persona of someone who they want to be online because they do not have to taste the physical judgement and scrutiny that befalls physical confrontations. We can see that the “The World’s Longest Collaborative Sentence” slowly starts to become a platform for people to rant their feelings, as well as the linguistic changes throughout the years (different slang or vulgarities). This may not have been the original intention per-say but like everything in modern society that seems to transform and change, “The World’s Longest Collaborative Sentence” has metamorphasized into something more than just a simple survey.

Tumblr Notes
Tumblr Notes

On a side not, this way of constantly adding onto an already existing statement reminds of me of the way Tumblr works, where people have a catalyst image or text that triggers a wave of never-ending reblog and notes. (Though these are not the most mature examples, these were the few that I could find)

The irony of the “The World’s Longest Collaborative Sentence” is that it is written and stored on modern technology. Even though it may the longest textual sentences, it is not necessarily the longest lasting sentence. I say this because most of the links and images attached on the original version of  “The World’s Longest Collaborative Sentence” can not be accessed because of the outdated codes or the deleted file the “author” trashed after several years. What people assumed would be permanently on the World Wide Web, in the end no longer exists, or is “broken”. This entire situation points out  “the ephemeral nature of the Web…”. This is why I believe that the longest textual sentence is will not be the longest surviving sentence.

And for the “longest existing collaborative sentence” it is still unable to display the proper Korean Characters. It has been 24 years and within those years there have been so many advancements in technology that should be able to help depict the Korean Characters yet for some reason it still remains a garbled mess. Maybe it because the Korean characters were sent in with the old coding making it more difficult to translate it and depict it, but maybe one day it will be possible to actually see what was written in 1995.

REFLECTION

Looking through the effect and impact of “The World’s Longest Collaborative Sentence” has made me think about the idea of collaboration. A collaborative piece involves not only the artist but also the audience, both contribute to the outcome of a collaborative artwork. And continues to have effect as long as one person makes the effort to keep it alive. The beauty of a collaborative work is that each contribution made is unique and personal to the contributor. All these unique pieces amalgamate to an even more unique creation. For example, our current Experimental Class is doing a collaborative art piece. We all have to post one body part every day. (Insert screen shot here). Even this collaborative art piece is a record of our generation, from the pictures you can see different editing techniques and clothing styles, even camera angle techniques unique to each batch of students.

 

“Do It With Others”

 

 

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A Hole in Space Stitched by Two Screens

Hole-in-Space

“Art challenges technology, and technology inspires art.”

– John Lasseter, Chief creative officer of Pixar Animation Studios, Walt Disney Animation Studios and DisneyToon Studios.

In 1980, a live art instillation situated in both New York and California simultaneously is considered one of the earliest forms of live networked media art. This instillation titled, “Hole-in-Space” was launched by artist Kit Galloway and Sherrie Rabinowitz, founders of the Electronic Cafe. These two artists dabbled in the advancing technological side of art that began soon after the introduction of the World Wide Web. The two artists  created a digital bridge that connect the physical distance in our reality. This bridge is located in a place called the “third space”, a space that is not physical where ideas coexist. The bystanders are thrusted into this third space, their own little world, without any previous knowledge or expectation of what this instillation would do.

The instillation required two screens, one in the Lincoln Center in New York City and the other in Century City in Los Angles, that were connected by one satellite. Kit Galloway and Sherrie Rabinowitz created the first live telecast that functioned on realtime between the two different coasts. This live art instillation can be dubbed in today’s society as one of the “first Factime or video call”.

Live Video Call “Facetime” 2017 https://support.apple.com/en-sg/HT204380

 

       The beauty of the video linked above is that it allowed me to see the candid and genuine reactions of the people who experienced this phenomenon. To us, those who were born and raised in the age where smartphones and LTE (4G Data) is a social norm, the idea of freaking out seems overly dramatic and silly ( 2:40 Audience in LA realizes that the other audience is from New York City). However, society at that time never in their wildest chance believed that this could happen. These people lived their lives thinking that they couldn’t see the uncle who moved to West Coast to pursue his career as a director until he made enough money to come back for Thanksgiving. The audience even believed that the screen was just a prerecording of actors acting as if it was real time (3:03). This was time in our modern history where everything felt so pure and untouched by harms of the World Wide Web. Everyone was just having fun and reveling at the wonders of the third space.

“Heinekin! Here! You got it! You got it! You got it!… Here you go baby!”

“One for me!”

  • – The audience enjoying themselves and interacting with one another (by passing a beer) through the third space

       This Iive art piece, contrary to other live performances where the audience merely watches the artist in his or her element, requires the help of the unsuspecting and curious audience. Granted, by the last telecast, many people made plans to meet each other at the two locations. Specifically a The unclear nature of the project allowed the artwork to be completely be run by the audience by letting them interpret the work in their own way. Certain people used this project to see the face of loved ones who they haven’t seen in a while, while others as seen in the video, started to treat this as a chance  to bring about their flirty side. This in a sense makes the audience, the artist and the artist, the audience. The intended audience becomes the artist because they have total control and paint the essence of the artwork on the blank screen. While the original artist becomes the audience as they witness how the “new” artists choose to pursue the artwork.

Daina Pupkevičiūtė & Vaida Tamoševičiūtė Practicing for the Big Performance
http://creatureliveart.lt/distance-connections-live-performance-creature-duo/

       Kit Galloway and Sherrie Rabinowitz’s “Hole-in-Space” is a revolutionary piece of art that has continued to influence future generations of artists. Such as the artistic duo, Lutherstadt Wittenberg, who perform live art from different places in the world. Specifically, their “Limitless Distances” performance, which is about longing, distance, and connection. The artists performed this at “Meno Parkas” gallery in Kaunas, Lithuania and artist residency “Route-Art-Rageous” in Lutherstadt Wittenberg. Technology has influenced our society in many ways, from education to leisure and art. Art no longer pertains to traditional mediums such as painting and sculpture but it has expanded  to ready made objects and technology.