Date: Sun, 03 Jun 2001 18:45:01 +0200 From: Aurora Fonda <spignotti@iol.it> To: spignotti@iol.it Subject: biennale.py: A Virus in the Venice Biennale Press Release, June 1st 2001 49th International Art Biennale of Venice Press opening: June 6th, 7th and 8th 2001; Opening June 9th 2001. Pavilion of the Republic of Slovenia Gallery A+A, San Marco 3073, Venice 30124. Tel/Fax 041 2770466 e-mail: spignotti@iol.it Press office: Roberta Lombardo - hurstel.roberta@wanadoo.fr A Virus in the Venice Biennale A group of artists and programmers will exhibit a new computer virus. A virus is usually considered evil, chaos. But what happens when it is a contemporary art temple to spread the chaos? Conceived and compiled for the invitation to the 49th Venice Biennale, "biennale.py" is the product of the collaboration of two entities, 0100101110101101.ORG and epidemiC, already known for other shocking actions, often bordering with crime. "biennale.py" is both a work of art and a computer virus. The source code of the virus will be made public and spread on the opening day of the Biennale, June 6th 2001, from the Slovenian Pavilion. The main anti-virus software companies have already been informed about the technical specifications of "bienale.py" and the disinstallation instructions will be attached to the virus. Computer viruses or self-reproducing programs behave according to the same modus operandi of biological viruses: they attack an "organism", that is a file, sometime to settle and install their own habitat, and in other more rare cases, to destroy it. Viruses, thus, spread respecting the species conservation laws and the survival instinct. A virus is. More, a virus wants to exist instinctively and without mediations, and it is just this the main and only function of "biennale.py": to survive. The creation of a virus tout court, free and without an end or a goal, is in the worst case a test, a survey on the limits of the Net, but in the best case is a form of global counterpower, generally a pre-political form, but that resists the strong powers, it puts them under a new balance, it shakes and reassembles them. A new idea of a "virus that is not just a virus" is gaining acceptance, and that it can represent the outbreak of the social into the most social thing of all: the Net. Inside the Slovenian Pavilion it will be possible to read the source code of "biennale.py" and test its functioning on a infected computer. During the opening days of the Biennale thousands of t-shirts carrying the source code of the program will show up. Paradoxically, such as in biological viruses, "biennale.py" will spread not only through machines but also through men. The paradox becomes even more clear if you think that the virus, a vague and dangerous entity by definition, is for sale to adventurous curators and collectors. To buy a computer virus is probably on the most exciting investment one could make today. The "biennale.py" fits perfectly with the context of the Pavilion of the Slovenian Pavilion, that this year will present the Absolute One project. With Absolute One the Slovenian Pavilion, starting from the basic question on how the artist could constructively operate and actively respond to the globalization process, offers a strong and optimistic signal instead of the spreading fatalism and of the idea of inevitability. The artists that will represent Slovenia in the 49th Venice Biennale, besides the forth mentioned ones, will be Vuk Cosic and Tadej Pogacar. The new commissioner of the Slovenian Pavilion and curator of the project is Aurora Fonda. website: http://www.epidemic.ws email: biennale.py@epidemic.ws 0100101110101101.ORG website: HTTP://WWW.0100101110101101.ORG email: biennale.py@0100101110101101.ORG