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<blockquote data-quote="SowiesoGroyp" data-source="post: 18881" data-attributes="member: 6">[MEDIA=x]1821086275253723200[/MEDIA]I like the series of &quot;I am still alive&quot; messages by the Japanese artist On Kawara: telegrams, bearing just that message, sent to various people over the years. An imposition? I don't think so. When I was in charge of certain bots on the internet, I had them send me the message &quot;I AM STILL ALIVE&quot; every hour to ensure they wouldn't idle out. At first it was a relief to see those words, to know that everything was still working; then, when it became clear that the bots were stable, they became irritating - isn't there some way to stop these bloody things logging off without them beeping at me every 60 minutes?Eventually the meaning of the message turned round: &quot;I AM STILL ALIVE&quot; came to refer not to the bot, but to myself. I found my reaction had turned full circle: the words brought me solace once again, but not because the bot was alive; rather because I was. Oh, I know it sounds melodramatic, but before you protest too loudly, consider whether you might be better saving your energy until I reach the next logical step in this ludicrous cycle: irritation at the fact of my continuing existence.Five years after I first heard it, I think I might be coming to see this record in a similar light. Having once been happy enough to know it existed, having passed through irritation at its beeps, I now find that I'm relieved I can hear it at all. It is, in some horribly literal way, life-affirming.Ridiculous.<img src="https://i.postimg.cc/xT8K5Zsv/6925037.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></blockquote>

[QUOTE="SowiesoGroyp, post: 18881, member: 6"] [MEDIA=x]1821086275253723200[/MEDIA] I like the series of "I am still alive" messages by the Japanese artist On Kawara: telegrams, bearing just that message, sent to various people over the years. An imposition? I don't think so. When I was in charge of certain bots on the internet, I had them send me the message "I AM STILL ALIVE" every hour to ensure they wouldn't idle out. At first it was a relief to see those words, to know that everything was still working; then, when it became clear that the bots were stable, they became irritating - isn't there some way to stop these bloody things logging off without them beeping at me every 60 minutes? Eventually the meaning of the message turned round: "I AM STILL ALIVE" came to refer not to the bot, but to myself. I found my reaction had turned full circle: the words brought me solace once again, but not because the bot was alive; rather because I was. Oh, I know it sounds melodramatic, but before you protest too loudly, consider whether you might be better saving your energy until I reach the next logical step in this ludicrous cycle: irritation at the fact of my continuing existence. Five years after I first heard it, I think I might be coming to see this record in a similar light. Having once been happy enough to know it existed, having passed through irritation at its beeps, I now find that I'm relieved I can hear it at all. It is, in some horribly literal way, life-affirming. Ridiculous. [img]https://i.postimg.cc/xT8K5Zsv/6925037.jpg[/img] [/QUOTE]

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