[oldboys] The Return of The Media Hype (1)

[Cornelia Sollfrank <cornelia@snafu.de>]

[on request I will send the edited version as rtf file]

The Return of The Media Hype, by Cornelia Sollfrank   
07.07.2001 

In the Slovenian pavilion at the Venice Biennale a group of artists and hackers, 0100101110101101.ORG and EpidemiC, is exhibiting a new  computer virus called 'biennale.py'. The announcement of this piece of net.art has caused a kind of sensation, and a big crowd came to the opening in order to see the virus. Cornelia Sollfrank, a net.artist herself, asked members of 0100101110101101.ORG some critical questions.

C.S.: Could you please first explain what a virus is?

01: Computer viruses are self-copying programs which behave according to the modus operandi of biological viruses: they attack an ’organism' (a computer) by installing themselves inside and become active when the program is executed.

C.S.: What is special about your virus?

01: ’biennale.py' is the first virus ever written in Python language. Many developers think that Python will be the language of the future. It is multiplatform, but not easy to write. ’biennale.py' is a 47 line program that attaches itself to all files and software which are written in Python language (so ending with .py or .pyw), which means it is only able to survive in Python environments.

C.S.: Is there anything else special except the fact that it is the first .py virus?

01: Yes, it has been made in absolute transparency. We announced beforehand what we were going to do. Our names and domains are written in the code. This is a big difference to the traditional cracking scene. Additionally, before starting to spread the code, we sent it to all anti-virus software houses, together with an explanation of how to erase it. The main goal of our virus is just to survive. And, it can better survive when it doesn't do any harm to the host. If it would kill its host, it would die itself, too. So, it sucks energy, but tries to stay invisible as much as possible. It is only safe as long as nobody discovers it. ’biennale.py' is completely invisible. It just installs itself in the background. 

C.S.: You have mentioned before that Python is not widely spread. This also means that your virus is not very viable and quite harmless. It doesn't have many potential hosts.

01: Of course adding a piece of new code to a software might always damage it, but this is not its main purpose. Additionally, Python is only useful on servers, which are usually run by professionals who know how to trace and treat a virus.

C.S.: That means ’biennale.py' would never infect personal/ private/ home computers?

01.: Probably not, at least not this version. Maybe in future when the language will be also used on PCs, there might be a danger. As we have already said, its main goal is not to damage computers, otherwise we wouldn't be here talking about it publicly. 

C.S.: So, basically, ’biennale.py' is a very peaceful virus, and exactly the opposite of what has been announced in your press release where it has been called "evil" and capable of "causing chaos"?

01.: The press release was not written by us, and anyway it said that "A virus is usually considered evil, causing chaos...", not referring to ’biennale.py', but to the usual hysteria that spreads among computer users. We are not interested in damaging a computer, but more on the media effect viruses have. You often have these virus warnings on the net which mostly turn out to be pranks. People are hysterically spreading these messages without verifying them, and we simply work with the hysteria, with the media attention a virus automatically gets. ***

Additionally, by showing the code in the pavilion, by printing it on t-shirts and post cards, we want people to come close to it, and so to demystify the aura of a virus. They can find out what it looks like, and that it works exactly as any other software.

C.S.: I think it is part of the hysteria that most people do not know how computers function beyond the graphical interface. In this sense, it doesn't make much sense to show the code, because not many people will be able to read it, and to make sense out of it. Probably, you could show any piece of software, and make most people believe, that it was a virus! Isn't this just another step of mystification, to pretend transparency, but in fact confront people with code they cannot decipher?

01.: The idea was to let people get the hang of viruses. And even this interview is part of the mystification. Everybody who is reading it will automatically be part of it, but mystification is always better than didactics.

C.S.: Actually, I am hoping that my interview will contribute to filtering out your strategies, intentions, and motivations, instead of stupidly reproducing any hype or hysteria. That is why I would like to continue talking about the code. Let's keep the question of whether or not your work demystifies viruses open... 

The code appears in three different versions in the pavilion: It is printed in large letters on a banner (3:4m), it is to be seen on a computer-monitor (the computer cannot be operated), and, interestingly there is 10 golden CD-ROMs hanging framed on the wall, which also contain the virus. Why did you choose these forms of aestheticization for the virus?

01.: It's a matter of visibility. To reach more people, you need more means: websites, t-shirts, postcards, canvases, articles, tv shows, any medium is effective to reach our goals.


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:::::"A smart artist makes the machine do the work"::::::::::::::::::::::::
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::::::::::::::::::::::: [net.art generator]: http://www.obn.org/generator :
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:Cornelia Sollfrank | Rutschbahn 37 | 20146 Hamburg | Germany :::::::::::::
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