Infection as Communication

Can »computer virus infections« be considered a form of communication? The answer might be yes, as the process of infection involves a critical exchange of information. If so, the computer virus phenomenon could be seen not only as a mere IT security problem (this is the common approach taken by the media), but also as a presence with many social and cultural consequences. No PC seems to be aseptic, and the infections are so frequent and so well covered by the media that the average user tends to consider most strange software behavior as a suspected »virus«. Viruses, indeed, are widely perceived as unwanted digital »immigrants«, trespassing over the borders of our personal PCs. They make invisible but perceptible stains on the perfect cleanliness of the industrial OS interface. They often seem to induce an unexpected instability of the system with unpredictable consequences.

»Digitalkraft« is a cultural bureau with a predilection for problematic art exhibitions, which is why it has just produced »I love you [rev.en]«. Its tactic is to gather together a variety of sources, from specialists' know-how to personal experiences. One of the results to emerge from the different social, theoretical and aesthetic analyses seems to be that a computer virus should also be seen as an amazingly fast and pervasive communication system and, being itself a medium, one that evolves and mutates. The speed of propagation is an important aspect in understanding this phenomenon. Under the specific »logic« of viruses (bigger distribution means better communication), the epidemic dimension is the key to defining the success or failure of a communication. The more computers become infected (or in other words: the more computers that accept the message), the bigger the impact and effect on the network. The critical mass of data spread around the network temporarily transforms its shape and content, so that it changes its own consciousness. The network’s own vital mechanisms (the protocols for exchanging data) are infiltrated and loaded with a new, powerful wave of information generated by the viruses' replicating process. It suffers for a while, before reacting with a quick structural evolution brought about by software updates implemented by thousands of active members, who quickly introduce a different type of code able to slow the spreading process. This process can be seen in the exhibition in its macroscopic dimension thanks to a specifically conceived tool that visualizes global virus infections on a world map. In fact, what the tool renders visible is another game played by viruses: the game of viral communication and its consequences in terms of space. The primary sense of the initial communication travels unaltered through millions of hosts and, even more relevantly, through numerous personal computers. It multiplies its presence everywhere, like a neologism included in millions of copies of a new dictionary.

The literary meaning of the code is evident in two of the works included in the exhibition. »The_Lovers« by Sneha Solanki is an installation based on two networked computers, where one is infected with an encrypted stealth virus, contaminating itself and its connected partner through the interface of classic romantic poetry. It is a contamination through romantic language that blends an infection process with the power of love to distort the meaning of information. The other work, the »Biennale.py,« a historic work of art by 0100101110101101.ORG and epidemiC groups, which caused much media consternation at the 49th Venice Biennale, is written with a code structure that can be read as a poem, and the self-replicating process is implemented by a metaphoric use of variables and algorithm. An (involuntary) gesture triggers the replication of the message; in fact, for many virus contaminations that are spread through mail systems, the user needs actively to open or download an attached file. Furthermore, this gesture generates an extorted »forwarding« of the written code on a global scale, forcing the unaware user to communicate the virus to his personal network of friends of friends. The original code is carefully copied millions of times, becoming part of a common datascape which unifies a large number of users. The code travels carrying its own message, sometimes telling a story, often an original one, abusing some common resources (the bandwidth and the server's functionalities, for example). The message cannot be filtered at the beginning (every new virus tests a new effective technology of self-replication) and gets past almost all kinds of protection and censorship. It is a traveling piece of literature that overcomes the infrastructure of the moment, invading the recipients' personal space with its own narration.

The Internet is an unmapped space of exponentially growing, intertwined connections. The virus, as a small narrative entity, travels within this context highlighting the hidden structure as it passes, therefore creating an image of the Internet itself. The socio-political consequences cannot be calculated in advance, which is why this phenomenon could be seen as a »living metaphor« of our contemporary media system. But contemporary media use only a few well-known methods to grasp the viewer's attention: special effects and old tricks are crammed into a compressed space of time to appeal to every possible mind. The computer viruses, on the other side, are continually re-inventing their own protocol of communication. They combine existing techniques for hiding their code with innovative methods of self-transmission. The hackers’ approach – constructing meaning by reinventing the mechanisms of machines – becomes evident in conversations with them. They talk about their »art« in a refreshing and frank manner, being fascinated much more by the abstraction and manipulation of mechanisms than by any conceptual speculations. They are impelled by the necessity of evolving, changing and adapting to new environments and conditions, and finding fresh solutions to allow meaning to survive in the tricky and fast-moving info world.

http://www.digitalcraft.org/iloveyou/