Keys: ← → ↑ ↓

“No time to fall deep and heavy—there are businesses to build, brands to consult, and world-citizenships to obtain.” https://thenewinquiry.com/crushed/

I spend a lot of my time on the Internet, loosely configured. For better or for worse, I find myself circulating around the same websites, looking at the same kinds of photos and memes and blocks of text, and then I spend the rest of my time not at my computer - stretching, drinking, talking, running, getting the bus, cleaning, cooking - wondering if I spend too much time on the Internet. I’ve been thinking a lot about luck and randomness online too, particularly in relation to the world ‘offline’. In 1969, the artist John Giorno created a telephone line called Dial-A-Poem, where you could call a number and have someone recite a poem back to you. (it’s been decommissioned, and calling will take you to a nail salon in New York, who are probably really annoyed)

I like the idea of calling a number with some idea of what comes out of the other end, even if it might not be something you’ve been exposed to before, and I like the idea of doing something with the intention of connection, even if you don’t know what awaits on the other side. Jason Polan, an artist I loved very much, passed away recently - he was on a mission to draw every person in New York, (http://everypersoninnewyork.blogspot.com/) and drew every painting at MoMa twice. What I love about his work – and the spirit he engendered - is that it was unfailingly sincere. In the interests of sincerity, here are links to articles, videos, essays, podcasts and websites that I, and people I know, have been turning over. None of it is my own work, although some of it is my friend’s. I also collected field recordings – from people I know very well to people I’ve never met before – and Ana + Mackenzie (the two coders / curators who have brought my sad, scrawled notes to life) placed them around the cityscape, so you never know what you might be biting into. Please enjoy!

Special thanks to Will Pritchard, Emma Rixhon, Jacob Middleburgh, Keegan Gomm, Sarah Ahmed, Harry Harris, Sabrina Weiss, Vilde Hilleren, Gianna Seglias, Ethan Coombridge, Lucas Wallenberg, Freddie Watkins, Shivani Brooking, Catrin Harris, Hayley Harris, Anaelle Prioux & other people who sent me sound recordings.

Notes

One - the links and audio recordings aren’t labelled deliberately. But anything that’s potentially triggering has been labelled, and if you find that something is missing a warning, let me know at sanjanamvarghese@gmail.com and we can try and fix it!

Two - please enjoy!

This exhibition is about desktop websites so using phones or tablets means it won't work properly – Sorry!