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AFK.7 misha onsite: The webcam is on the 23rd floor of the Sheraton Hotel. The skaters on the rink are tiny dots, the retro-futuristic city hall looms over. For months we have been watching the paths that are drawn by the municipal plow after each fresh snow. We talk about shovelling messages in the snow, carving huge wide letter paths that can been viewed from great heights. We plan an attack on the untouched snow, before the plow comes, in the darkness. I find a shovel and keep it by my front door. But the snow is intermittent and the plow always beats me to it. One morning I look again. In one of the paths I think I see an "A". I decide to make the message from the paths that are already there. The next morning I leave the sleeping J and walk with my shovel to the square. I am nervous and excited. I start to push the snow around, following the drawing on the webcam printout that I use for reference. Everything is out of skew, but things are going brilliantly. Just as I'm finishing the "N" two security guards come out and stop me. I explain my intentions, but am told that I am doing it wrong, am non-union, and could cause a mishap. I am ushered off. Back in the safety on my studio I watch on camera as the snow plow clears the message away until nothing is left of it. The following week there is an article in the national newspaper about a heroic city worker who carves messages in the snow so they can be viewed from the 23rd floor. |
ij online: More weather forecasts, more waiting for snow! Since months we've been following the City Hall webcam, gathering a small collection of images depicting the square in snow. Always, soon after new snow has fallen foot paths are being plowed, each time a little different. The morning of the performance, I wait impatiently for a new image to load every five minutes. Slowly I can see one of the main traversing lines growing an unusual extension: the dead end path is the first letter of the message LAN [Local Area Network]. Anxiously I watch the A taking shape -how long before the security guards notice, how are they going to react? The N appears, I'm relieved -although -is the last line not a bit rougher than the rest? What happened? Later misha calls and explains. We keep monitoring the webcam and suddenly: the entire square gets cleared of snow! That has never ever happened before! The innocent act must have caused quite a stir... |
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