“T-Space Pandemic” consists of two graphically identical applications that, due to the media they are presented on, differ greatly in function. The applications work independently, but when viewed in conjunction with each other, create a visual representation of the separation of physical and virtual interaction (see included mock-ups).
The first application is intended for use on mobile communication devices (e.g. the iPhone). The program’s structure can be described as follows:
• When the application is installed, User A creates a simple graphical ‘icon’ to represent them.
• User A comes into infection range of another infected device (User B).
• The application adds users A & B icons to the other device.
• The icons are placed centrally on the screen of each user.
• A line is drawn between the two icons.
• If another user (C) is detected within range, this icon is acquired and displayed also.
• A line is drawn randomly from the new icon (C) to an already acquired icon.
• The process is repeated until user removes application.
Mockups of the iPhone virus in action, also highlighting my broken little finger
The second application is similar to above, but is produced for use on social networking sites (e.g. facebook, myspace). It functions as follows:
• When the application is installed, User A creates a simple graphical ‘icon’ to represent them.
• The application contacts a networked ‘friend’ (User B).
• User B accepts infection
• The application adds users A & B icons.
• The icons are placed centrally on the screen of each user.
• A line is drawn between the two icons.
• The application contacts a network friend of a friend, C, (User B’s friend)
• A line is drawn randomly from the new icon (C) to an already acquired icon.
• The process is repeated until user removes application.
Relevance to Call
“T-Space Pandemic” responds to the idea of the ‘virus’ in a number of ways. The mobile based application can be expressed as a record of a physical viral dissemination, much in the same way as a biological virus, such as the influenza virus, would spread. The user is unaware of their contact with other infected users until the application is checked. During a simple walk down a busy high street a user could, unaware, acquire twenty or a hundred other anonymous icons.
In comparison to this, the social network application thrives through the network of friends and contacts acquired by the user through choice. The spread of infection is known and willingly accepted: The next user in the chain must be aware of, and must trust, the carrier who wishes to infect them.
Relevant Theory
Although the code that produces the graphical display of the applications is identical, the processes that feed them information differ greatly. In comparing the diagrams created by the two applications, the user receives a visual illustration of the complex systems that underlie simple human interaction. In turn, “T-Space Pandemic” also reveals the oversimplification of an often used model which classifies the physical and the virtual as a dichotomy. As Stone states:
The discourse of visionary virtual world builders is rife with images of imaginal bodies, freed from the constraints that flesh imposes. Cyberspace developers foresee a time when they will be able to forget about the body. But it is important to remember that virtual community originates in, and must return to, the physical. No refigured virtual body, no matter how beautiful, will slow the death of a cyberpunk with AIDS. Even in the age of the technological subject, life is lived through bodies.
“T-Space Pandemic” gains its title through the combination of two distinct terms. T-Space, coined by Roy Ascott, is described as follows: “Traditionally, art was constructed in 2-space or 3-space. The digital arts occupy telematic space that both collapses classical space and deterritorialises time” . A pandemic can be defined simplistically as a viral outbreak over a wide geographical distance. Due to the telematic space explored through the work, a T-Space Pandemic causes infection and dissemination irrespective of physical limitations.
