Vol. I
ARPANET Test 1975
with Marcel Broodthaers, Jane Fonda, Ronald Reagan & Edward Said
Published on 9 October 2010. Presented in conjunction with OVERSCORE, a project curated by ACAF for Manifesta 8.
The following transcript presents an excerpt of a conversation between Governor Ronald Reagan of California, artist Marcel Broodthaers, cultural anthropologist Edward Said, and actress Jane Fonda. The session was moderated by Maeve O’Reilly. Please note that the respective computer terminals for each participant were identified by the names of gods from Roman mythology and have here been changed to reflect the actual names of the participants. The application, still in its early stage of development, had limited syntax capability, thus punctuation was limited to the full stop. Also, the original timestamps for each transmission have been removed for the sake of legibility.
* * *
- Marcel Broodthaers
- Hello.
- Edward Said
- Hello this really works.
- Ronald Reagan
- Hello this is Gov. Ronald Reagan of California.
- Marcel Broodthaers
- Yes amazing.
- Ronald Reagan
- Neat stuff.
- Marcel Broodthaers
- I thought I would say hello whilst we are waiting.
- Marcel Broodthaers
- This is mb.
- Ronald Reagan
- Hello Marcel.
- Edward Said
- Who are we waiting for. Im Edward.
- Marcel Broodthaers
- Hello.
- Ronald Reagan
- Hi Ed. Call me Ron.
- Edward Said
- Hi Ron you dont mind do you.
- Marcel Broodthaers
- Hello Edward. Well Im told we are waiting for Jane Fonda.
- Ronald Reagan
- No my wife calls me Ronnie.
- Ronald Reagan
- Jane Fonda. Really. Well Ill be.
- Ronald Reagan
- Interesting line up.
- Edward Said
- Hello everyone. Oh Jane. Shes quite something.
- Marcel Broodthaers
- Yes certainly.
- Marcel Broodthaers
- A woman of many talents and interests from what I hear.
- Ronald Reagan
- Bit controversial too around these parts.
- Marcel Broodthaers
- Oh really.
- Edward Said
- Itll be great to have her give a lecture here at Columbia.
- Ronald Reagan
- Hanoi Jane and all that.
- Edward Said
- Oh Ron. come one.
- Edward Said
- You cant stand lefties can you.
- Ronald Reagan
- Oh lets not reduce ourselves to labels Ed.
- Ronald Reagan
- Right. Left. Whats it all mean anyway.
- Edward Said
- No labels Ron. No labels.
- Edward Said
- Yes acting has made you wise.
- Ronald Reagan
- Oh I dont know about that.
- Marcel Broodthaers
- I wonder how long she will be.
- Edward Said
- Well perhaps we can start without her.
- Ronald Reagan
- What are we starting anyway.
- Marcel Broodthaers
- I say we give her a few minutes.
- Ronald Reagan
- Im not clear on the point of this exercise.
- Marcel Broodthaers
- Well I think we are testing the possibilities of this device.
- Marcel Broodthaers
- I understand it is to be launched much more widely soon. I suspect Jane will be the celebrity endorsement.
- Edward Said
- Marcel I hope there is more to it than that.
- Ronald Reagan
- OK but why us.
- Marcel Broodthaers
- Well think about the implications. Imagine what something like this would offer to the world.
- Edward Said
- What are the implications. This will revolutionize they way people do business. Culture perhaps. Someone from Japan can have a conversation with someone from California. What about China.
- Ronald Reagan
- Wouldnt you rather pick up the phone and call.
- Ronald Reagan
- All this damned typing.
- Marcel Broodthaers
- You get faster.
- Edward Said
- Yes I would but if it were to be cheap and inexpensive.
- Edward Said
- Free.
- Ronald Reagan
- Free. Well who pays for it in the end though.
- Marcel Broodthaers
- The people of course.
- Ronald Reagan
- You mean taxes.
- Marcel Broodthaers
- I assume you are in a military communication centre like me. Both of you.
- Edward Said
- But for a young man or woman in Sri Lanka this might help them voice their ideas to people like a university professor from Michigan or an architect from Bahia.
- Edward Said
- The rich should pay.
