Journal Entry 10/15

"The Poetry of Tools"

Mindy Seu

I enjoyed this reading and will most likely be coming back to absorb more from all of the work included in this list. Upon first reading, the piece that stuck out to me and my interests the most was “Apple Talk” by Jürg Lehni. I felt drawn to it for many reasons, primarily because it made me think of so many other works that share similar ideas/energies/vibes. I think it does a great job of exploring the inherent failures in these machines, highlighting how these imperfections give the human audience something to grab on to (or perhaps relate to?)

I have encountered this type of translation-failure commentary in various art pieces and videos on the internet before. As I think more about it, we can almost map a translation-ception through all of these different ideas and spoofs on technological failure. I also love the sound and quality of the electronic voices used in these dated programs, and can think of many different instances where I have heard lo-fi voice software used as a way to comment on futility, the future, or a general vibe of creepiness.

Other translation-failure commentary:
-> Rhett and Link Taylor Swift Caption Fail
-> Malinda Kathleen Reese videos (what happened to that diva?)

Other robotic voices I'm familiar with:
-> I feel fantastic
-> Goodbye to a World (a song I find to actually be a bit cringy now)
-> GTFO (not a robot voice but I naturally connect it with Goodbye to a World (plus musical sampling is another form of translation))
-> Still Alive (another cringe moment- what was the 2010's obsessions with this stuff?)