Sunday, November 02, 2003
Spam = poetry?
So I'm checking my e-mail for the nth time today, and I've got another weird piece of spam. Before I deleted it (or maybe before I could) I actually read over it. The text follows:
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD><TITLE></TITLE>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=windows-1251">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1141" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<font color="white">immaculate feminism cavitate gleam ramp coloratura clothesman prudent sharp titanate draftsmen beau ursula swanson fragile caliper percentage boycott duchess enrollee simply kaddish recursion coors pilgrimage buzzy anselmo novel racket encumbrance indoctrinate foundation contrariwise breeches </font><br>
<body>
<p>Do</confluent>n't M</plexiglas>iss t</concert>he l</scenic>owest mort</fontaine>gage ra</delirium>tes i</bennett>n His</arrogant>tory!
<a href="http://www.meds369.net/Lead3500">Mov</poise>enow!</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.meds369.net/Lead3500">
<img border="0" src="http://www.ehostz..org/M3.jpg"></a></p>
<p> </p>
<br>
<font color="white">carriage semite crocus dreamlike beatitude beat triangular agatha embryo adam </font>
</BODY>
</HTML>
Obviously I, the recipient, wasn't supposed to see all that. Most of the "message" was hidden random words added apparently for the purpose of getting around spam filters (it worked.) I did see it, though, and, as a matter of fact, looked at it several times. And you know what? I think this might just be poetry. OK, Dada has come and gone, but there is more than randomness to recommend this. It's pop art too; it's mass-produced and familiar, serving commercial ends, but transcending them a bit.
So is my unwanted e-mail a poem? Or just a damn nuisance that happened to screw itself up by showing me its inner workings? Does the fact that it was made without any artistic intent, by a non-intelligent box in some basement office, make any difference? And, finally, if this is in fact art, does that mean the NEA should join the fight against anti-spam legislation?
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD><TITLE></TITLE>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=windows-1251">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1141" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<font color="white">immaculate feminism cavitate gleam ramp coloratura clothesman prudent sharp titanate draftsmen beau ursula swanson fragile caliper percentage boycott duchess enrollee simply kaddish recursion coors pilgrimage buzzy anselmo novel racket encumbrance indoctrinate foundation contrariwise breeches </font><br>
<body>
<p>Do</confluent>n't M</plexiglas>iss t</concert>he l</scenic>owest mort</fontaine>gage ra</delirium>tes i</bennett>n His</arrogant>tory!
<a href="http://www.meds369.net/Lead3500">Mov</poise>enow!</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.meds369.net/Lead3500">
<img border="0" src="http://www.ehostz..org/M3.jpg"></a></p>
<p> </p>
<br>
<font color="white">carriage semite crocus dreamlike beatitude beat triangular agatha embryo adam </font>
</BODY>
</HTML>
Obviously I, the recipient, wasn't supposed to see all that. Most of the "message" was hidden random words added apparently for the purpose of getting around spam filters (it worked.) I did see it, though, and, as a matter of fact, looked at it several times. And you know what? I think this might just be poetry. OK, Dada has come and gone, but there is more than randomness to recommend this. It's pop art too; it's mass-produced and familiar, serving commercial ends, but transcending them a bit.
So is my unwanted e-mail a poem? Or just a damn nuisance that happened to screw itself up by showing me its inner workings? Does the fact that it was made without any artistic intent, by a non-intelligent box in some basement office, make any difference? And, finally, if this is in fact art, does that mean the NEA should join the fight against anti-spam legislation?
