BLACKMOTH (.org, .info, and as username)
From 2000-present
Blackmoth always co-exists with databases — acting as interpreter, ambassador, organizer, curator, eliciter, ignorer, etc. It is an identity used for interaction with anything that can be treated materially as a database, list, cloud, tag set or network, which in the current age is, for better or worse, everything. "Database" is used to encompass all of these linked structures. Databases link to eachother as well, acting as parts of other ones, and containing other databases inside them. In understanding these links as structures and by inserting a lens with a certain behavioral set inside them, you can reveal a viewpoint or gaze of new or unseen structures in this ecosystem by exposing certain links between them.
The moth was the first "bug" to be found in a computer.
It was one of the first interruptions from the natural world, trapped by simply existing in an environment. There was a mutual modification from this event — the moth, while not choosing to alter the computer in any way, still died inside the machine. This forced the machine to stop, "debug" and continue. A small and momentary event but one that permanently changed each party's perception of itself and its relation to the other. It was an exchange and reflection of power; a path of soft but acute points of contact that led to the revelation of a fault. A fault line that, by revealing itself, also reveals the girth and fragility of the surrounding mass by causing a quiver.
Interactions as blackmoth don't aim to destroy or heavily alter the existing database, only to happen inside, around, and alongside it. They land gently but work their way in to provide new understandings of the structure. However in doing this, if we can view everything as information, the actions become added to the metadata about this structure and therefore do alter it in some way regardless of the outcome. In the same way that the body of the first moth became affixed to the records of the computer's existence, the blackmoth view of a network and path through it becomes attached to it and part of the historical panorama. Ethically blackmoth tends toward a natural (and therefore sometimes sinister) approach.
The product is an experience, path, or view of a found or created database which again can be treated as a network/database from another perspective. In this way the action never ends, as it keeps creating and revealing the next point of view on micro and macro levels. While continuing to adapt to the current surroundings, the actions follow an instinctually seductive and inquisitive path.
The black moth in the study of evolution
Another case of the moth's relationship with industry.
The moth as omen and symbol
In many cultures the moth is an omen of death or impending change, psychic power, femininity, a visit from a ghost, or a symbol of a dangerous attraction and seduction. In contemporary society because of the previous two examples it often comes up in relation to the technology industry's effect on nature. By consequence I am not the only person to use this avatar.
Blackmoth was an online name I started using around y2k at age 16.
By this age I'd already been posting everything online for several years and was involved in as many online creative communities as real life ones. A blackmoth username is registered in many of the once booming but now deserted social and creative networks online. I chose to keep using the name due to the recognition of these lists - catalogues of networked identities where blackmoth has existed. Each of these lists becomes a place in time: a structure blackmoth has entered, explored, and escaped (although one could argue that the avatar also became trapped in the structure and simultaneously exists in the remains.)
It has also been a name used in real life networks like the music and performance scene, where pseudonyms and alteridentities are standard. In this arena it became a pursuit of freedom in the desire to exist and participate among the growing brands and viruses without presenting a similar product. This lack of required product was a means of rejecting self-branding but also meant an existence somewhere between audience and stage, between back-end and display. There was no expectation for blackmoth on any flier - it was only important that it was listed and existed as a part of the network, either as host or attachment. Event performances as blackmoth were usually site and moment specific and often entered roles of audiovisual support. The network and the experience were the product. This naturally lent itself to collaborating with other entities in a very in-tune way and allowed continuous experimentation. Through these actions of informal but intense interpretation I have been able to gain strong insight into the works and output of others.
This is not to suggest that the performance has been entirely linear although it is in a relationship with time. It can be viewed as individual gestures and simultaneously as one largescale performance.
Currently the most active places for the results of this inquiry are blackmoth.org and blackmoth.info.
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last edited: 08/14/2010
The moth was the first "bug" to be found in a computer.
It was one of the first interruptions from the natural world, trapped by simply existing in an environment. There was a mutual modification from this event — the moth, while not choosing to alter the computer in any way, still died inside the machine. This forced the machine to stop, "debug" and continue. A small and momentary event but one that permanently changed each party's perception of itself and its relation to the other. It was an exchange and reflection of power; a path of soft but acute points of contact that led to the revelation of a fault. A fault line that, by revealing itself, also reveals the girth and fragility of the surrounding mass by causing a quiver.
Interactions as blackmoth don't aim to destroy or heavily alter the existing database, only to happen inside, around, and alongside it. They land gently but work their way in to provide new understandings of the structure. However in doing this, if we can view everything as information, the actions become added to the metadata about this structure and therefore do alter it in some way regardless of the outcome. In the same way that the body of the first moth became affixed to the records of the computer's existence, the blackmoth view of a network and path through it becomes attached to it and part of the historical panorama. Ethically blackmoth tends toward a natural (and therefore sometimes sinister) approach.
The product is an experience, path, or view of a found or created database which again can be treated as a network/database from another perspective. In this way the action never ends, as it keeps creating and revealing the next point of view on micro and macro levels. While continuing to adapt to the current surroundings, the actions follow an instinctually seductive and inquisitive path.
The black moth in the study of evolution
Another case of the moth's relationship with industry.
The moth as omen and symbol
In many cultures the moth is an omen of death or impending change, psychic power, femininity, a visit from a ghost, or a symbol of a dangerous attraction and seduction. In contemporary society because of the previous two examples it often comes up in relation to the technology industry's effect on nature. By consequence I am not the only person to use this avatar.
Blackmoth was an online name I started using around y2k at age 16.
By this age I'd already been posting everything online for several years and was involved in as many online creative communities as real life ones. A blackmoth username is registered in many of the once booming but now deserted social and creative networks online. I chose to keep using the name due to the recognition of these lists - catalogues of networked identities where blackmoth has existed. Each of these lists becomes a place in time: a structure blackmoth has entered, explored, and escaped (although one could argue that the avatar also became trapped in the structure and simultaneously exists in the remains.)
It has also been a name used in real life networks like the music and performance scene, where pseudonyms and alteridentities are standard. In this arena it became a pursuit of freedom in the desire to exist and participate among the growing brands and viruses without presenting a similar product. This lack of required product was a means of rejecting self-branding but also meant an existence somewhere between audience and stage, between back-end and display. There was no expectation for blackmoth on any flier - it was only important that it was listed and existed as a part of the network, either as host or attachment. Event performances as blackmoth were usually site and moment specific and often entered roles of audiovisual support. The network and the experience were the product. This naturally lent itself to collaborating with other entities in a very in-tune way and allowed continuous experimentation. Through these actions of informal but intense interpretation I have been able to gain strong insight into the works and output of others.
This is not to suggest that the performance has been entirely linear although it is in a relationship with time. It can be viewed as individual gestures and simultaneously as one largescale performance.
Currently the most active places for the results of this inquiry are blackmoth.org and blackmoth.info.
------------------
last edited: 08/14/2010