END TIME : ENDLESS ENCYCLOPAEDIA - a complete index of all elements leading to the end of the world!,
Summary
End Time : Endless Encyclopaedia is a generative book project written in COBOL code, monitored through RSS-feeds. This project draw upon Lindas Reasearch and artwork on the Y2K bug.
The book is a collaboration between Linda and Rojal and is based on Lindas research. It was released in May 2016. A new version of the book will be released every year and be a ongoing and endless encyclopaedia.
The book was exhibited at Overgarden Institute (Copenhagen) and Malmö Högskola and part of the seminar Crisis Computing (Overgaden).
Description of project
END TIME : ENDLESS ENCYCLOPAEDIA - a complete index of all elements leading to the end of the world!,
by Linda Hilfling Ritasdatter & Förlag Rojal (Olle Essvik and Joel Nordqvist)
This project draws upon Lindas research on the Y2K bug (see working article from exe 0.1 : The project is part of the exhibition "Bugs in the War Room"
End Time : Endless Encyclopaedia is a generative book project written in COBOL code, monitored through RSS-feeds, printed on Bible paper, and hand bound by Förlag Rojal.
Towards the turn of the Millennium attention was directed towards the so-called Y2K bug. The fear was that upon reaching the year 2000, computers would not be able to distinguish the 00 of 2000 from the 00 of 1900, thus leading to failures within major societal infrastructures.
In spring 1999, a reader of a Christian conservative magazine wrote a letter to the editor in which he carefully described how the computer, through a self-invented numerologic algorithm, could be proven to be the work of the devil. According to this system the word "computer" could be translated to the values 666 – the number of Antichrist.
End Time : Endless Encyclopaedia is a reenactment of this letter to the editor and the numerologic system which it describes translated into COBOL, a generative computer code that contributed to Y2K millennium bug fears. The algorithm is continuously monitoring the Internet in order to detect potentially 'satanic' elements. Each time it does, a new letter is generated and emailed to the editor of the journal End Time and a copy of the letter is added as an article to the encyclopaedia. The executing algorithm has detected that in addition to "computer", even "Santa Claus", "Humanity", "New York", "Ipad Touch", "Kilowatt" and "Cherry Coke" result in the number of the Beast and are thus shown to be works of Lucifer. When the number of articles reaches 666, they are compiled into a new volume of the endless encyclopaedia and published as hand bound books by Förlag Rojal.
Type of work
Artist-book
Published in
Overgaden Institut for Samtidskunst Köpenhamn, Malmö Högskola
Link to web site
http://softwarestudies.projects.cavi.au.dk/index.php/Exe0.2_Linda_Hilfling_%26_Olle_Essvik
http://overgaden.org/begivenhed/?e=seminar-crisis-computing
http://softwarestudies.projects.cavi.au.dk/index.php/*.exe_%28ver0.2%29_documentation
Date
2016-05-22Creator
Essvik, Olle
Hilfling Ritasdatter, Linda
Nordqvist, Joel
Keywords
Artist Book
Y2K
Millennium bug
Publication type
artistic work
Language
eng