Typing Project
I started this project during my first term at UCSD. I have wanted to make software art, having been a relatively traditional painter with another history as programmer and engineer that has remained unadressed in my work. Thinking about the kinds of software art I have seen, I wanted to make something truly idiotic with the computer. Typing the alphabet over and over in the text editor seemed like such an idea. Suprisingly, the project has held my interest. It is a very good and consistent sort of work, an escape from the anxiety and panic of the general search for 'good' projects, 'good' ideas, etc.
So far I have typed 160 Kb of alphabet (a 68 page pdf file)
The idea of locating computer files very particularly in space. The valuable alphabet, the one that I made, exists right here on my hard drive. Digital media vs traditional art objects. The value of the physical stuff the thing is made out of. Progress reports on the typing project. Meditative activity--keep your hands and eyes occupied and free your brain for thought. Baseline work. Keep active even when I do not know what to work on.
Hand generated random text. Generating random text by hand was more challenging than I would have suspected--due to the positioning of my hands on the keyboard, some sequences of letters are naturally easier to hit than others('asdf' for example), so I had to try very consciously to keys in random sequences with no discerable meaning.
This project is an attempt to provide a baseline for myself in terms of artistic expression. It is a baseline particularly in relation to another textual project of mine, the script I am writing which is being developed to include only the most valuable material.
A copy of the random text file. I am transcribing the file by hand from its original source, to think about the significance of the activity of copying. Retyping takes significantly longer than typing the original.