Stub Cruft MP3 
Stub Cruft Podcast
STUB CRUFT (rush limbaugh redux) SEEN THAT AND Wednesday February 22 2012 part 1 of 3 seen seen seen seen seen agenda The associated The seen seen agenda The associated SEEN seen seen seen seen seen seen seen Obama SEEN seen associated part 2 of 3 trouble thinking thinking trouble thinking one greatest becoming greatest trouble thinking one greatest becoming THAT trouble thinking trouble thinking trouble thinking trouble unions THAT thinking becoming part 3 of 3 place stopped stopped place stopped Eric dealing becoming dealing place stopped Eric dealing becoming AND place stopped place stopped place stopped place AND stopped becoming
Stub Cruft (rush limbaugh redux)
This algorithm begins by downloading and editing the daily quotes from Rush Limbaugh's talk radio show, and a selection of individual words are composed into the Stub Cruft. A computer synthesised voice gives a daily reading of the Stub Cruft recorded as an MP3 file and documented as a text file and a podcast.
What is CRUFT?
cruft /kruhft/ [back-formation from {crufty}]
1. n. An unpleasant substance. The dust that gathers under your bed is cruft; the TMRC Dictionary correctly noted that attacking it with a broom only produces more.
2. n. The results of shoddy construction.
3. vt. [from `hand cruft', pun on `hand craft'] To write assembler code for something normally (and better) done by a compiler (see {hand-hacking}).
4. n. Excess; superfluous junk; used esp. of redundant or superseded code.
5. [University of Wisconsin] n. Cruft is to hackers as gaggle is to geese; that is, at UW one properly says "a cruft of hackers".
The Jargon File, version 4.4.7 http://catb.org/jargon/html/C/cruft.html
I am interested in how the ideas and images presented to us by the media affect our world view. As the ever present cable news cycle pushes a daily message of fear, filled with political polarization; domestic and foreign terrorism; recent kidnapped white girls; celebrity scandals; and the imminent threat of hurricane, earthquake or flood, I began to think about how these digital images and text operated, one day influencing our daily discourse, the next day vanishing without a trace. Digital leftovers reminded me of redundant computer programming. Code that was once useful, but later forgotten and obsolete.
For my current work I have borrowed the computer hacker term 'Cruft', defined as an unpleasant substance; excess; superfluous junk; and redundant or superseded computer code. To create this work I call CRUFT, I write simple algorithms that an automated computer system follows. The instructions outline what websites to target, and the system then downloads selected images and text, which are then used as source material, and remixed to create new artwork on a schedule that imitates the 24 hour cable news cycle.
Further Resources
Six October Days
A selection of Stub Cruft from October, 2010
printed as an unlimited edition artist book.
Feel free to download this PDF and print your own.
Selected Poems: Six October Days (PDF Version)