COLmm (Cannibals On Line)
In the wake of the current Times Squarification and AOLization of
every nook and cranny of cyberspace a number of net.art projects are
deploying anthropophagic counterattack tactics. It is upon taking a
closer look at some recent projects that I stumbled upon a common thread
that unites them — an anthropophagic thread. For the purpose of this
overview I have retained five projects which exemplify particular
aspects of what is in fact a far broader current in net.art and
activism. Among these are ®™ark's involvement in the victorious Toywar
counterraid against Etoys, Mongrel's hybridising Natural Selection search engine,
m9ndfukc's strange
devouring systems, JODI's cannibalised SOD game and Mark Napier's Web Shredder.
Before delving further into these specific projects I will briefly
review how and why the concept of anthropophagy can serve to enrich the
menu of cybercultural ruminations.
