INTRODUCTION

Timeout. 404. Disk Error. Not Responding. Server unexpectedly quit. Since personal computers became a mainstream commodity of everyday life, these messages are commonplace diagnostic signals for failed communications. As mass-market consumer devices, and intended for interactive use by an individual rather than a technician, requests by electronic systems are part and parcel with any everyday operating language, building a computational lexicon that delivers the news of informational shortcomings as hapless messenger with a featureless face.

Initially single task processes developed by Gary Kildall for Intel, then later translated and distributed to mass consumers by Microsoft’s operating systems—the evolution of these messages remain a key part of digital interactions today. Beyond the ‘graphical shells’ of its initial releases, Windows MS-DOS developed an operating language that expanded communications to its users, providing a feedback of its processes and how they are functioning.

First appearing in the Windows 3.0 operating system in the early 1990’s, an error message summoned by an internal miscommunication locked users out of the system, shutting down its operability, and displaying what is now colloquially known as the Blue Screen of Death. Rather than an actual failure to the system, this display was a designed notification to the user that a problem had occurred, requesting it be rectified to prevent any damage to the machine. This ‘observe and report’ feature is simple yet enigmatic, pure in its function but disruptive in its presence. Since its introduction into personal computing systems, the BSOD as it is also referred to, is an outsider.

This simple message persisted in the lexicon largely unchanged throughout the rise in popularity of personal computers, until it was readdressed in 2012 with minor alterations. The Windows 8 Blue Screen of Death features an updated look at the message. Offering more diagnostic information and user-friendly language like “Your PC ran into a problem that it couldn’t handle, and now it needs to restart. :{ ” Though softer in its hue, the blue is ever persistent as the neutralizing color of alarm.

Unlike sleeker, more graphically oriented softwares offered by companies like Apple, this feature stands out as a rudimentary face in a hidden environment. Most contemporary softwares hide the technical defects of their softwares malfunctions, making this information simpler and more economical for its users. Regardless, however well-designed an error message can be, it will still be met with a dissonance that is unavoidably interrupting your digital life. And despite its veneer, BSOD remains the abstract messenger breaking that continuity, reintroducing itself when complex systems deviate from our expectations, and convincing us of the severity of those unseen systems as contributing to a disruption. This interaction is commonplace and everyday, and is often dismissed as the regular and expected course of communication. If this short message is prolonged, its presence punctuates a profound inability to create a seamless way of living. In an idle position, this seamlessness is unflinchingly inert; and becomes a prolonged experience of a space filled with a void.

Transposing this experience to be felt in a more physical state, Airlooms explores the featureless characteristics of voided space—resisting definition between objects. The installation introduces this in stark contrasts, creating a neutral ground where its presence can be foregrounded. Caverned in a deep blue well, objects rest in irregular and anamorphic postures, reflectively skinned in mylar. The surfaces of this environment are neutralizing and without mark or description. The air-filled bodies morph and bend this void as their form remolds its static presence into constant disposition. Airlooms presents this relationship in an interactive setting, with each object able to be moved and repositioned when engaged by visitors as they are situated amongst, between, and within them. Each object is a continuous surface, where the edges between the inner liner and outer body offer entry and exit through openings. Visitors are encouraged not to leave the installation ‘as they found it’, as each interaction instructs and informs the next group of visitors to the environment, contributing to the composite experience of operations in the blue void.

Press CTRL+ALT+DEL again to restart your computer. You will lose any unsaved information in all applications. Press any key to continue.