by: Ken Feingold
The large projected image of JCJ Junkman is that of a dilapidated ventriloquist
puppet, a worn-out relic with a glazed eye and peeling skin. This head floats
in a black void, surrounded by a whirling storm of ever-changing, appearing
and disappearing buttons or icons of many varieties. If one grabs hold of
the joystick and manages to click on one of the buttons, the puppet-head
begins to speak, moving his mouth and repeating phrases endlessly until
one manages to catch another. One is maddeningly driven to catch anything
at all but then to change for something else, and the work quickly becomes
a very peculiarly compelling game. All of the buttons and sounds in the
work were made from files found on the Internet - debris, more or less,
scooped up by robot software. Through this coming together of clicking mania
and network debris, he becomes something like a personality, but since there
is no fixed voice, it is something of a meta-personality, a cutup of the
Internet.
