STUB CRUFT (rush limbaugh redux) LEAST WHEN PERMITTED Wednesday June 15 2016 part 1 of 3 amazing amazing system now everything now amazing system now everything LEAST amazing amazing amazing amazing Orlando LEAST everything part 2 of 3 they red red they red red apparent abiding apparent they red red apparent abiding WHEN they red they red they red they law WHEN red abiding part 3 of 3 poll stopping stopping poll stopping World said acquiring said poll stopping World said acquiring PERMITTED poll stopping poll stopping poll stopping poll everybody PERMITTED stopping acquiring
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 an audio file. The resulting collaborative poem between myself and Rush Limbaugh uses repetition to emphasize the vocabulary used on his radio program, while at the same time the computer voice struggles and sometimes fails to correctly pronounce the words. The resulting poetry fragment then requires the viewer to fill in the gaps to actively complete the overall narrative.
Selections from the Archive
STUB CRUFT (rush limbaugh redux) OBAMA ARTICLEBODY THE Sunday November 22 2015 part 1 of 3 butter allowed allowed butter allowed contest unhappy acting unhappy butter allowed contest unhappy acting OBAMA butter allowed butter allowed butter allowed butter threw OBAMA allowed acting part 2 of 3 headline headline out governed out headline out governed ARTICLEBODY headline headline headline headline persuade ARTICLEBODY governed part 3 of 3 who enabling enabling who enabling right listen governed listen who enabling right listen governed THE who enabling who enabling who enabling who clauses THE enabling governed
STUB CRUFT (rush limbaugh redux) THAT ITSELF GOING Monday November 15 2010 part 1 of 3 caller kidding kidding caller kidding not Well allowed Well caller kidding not Well allowed THAT caller kidding caller kidding caller kidding caller entirely THAT kidding allowed part 2 of 3 Johnny ruling ruling Johnny ruling average people dealing people Johnny ruling average people dealing ITSELF Johnny ruling Johnny ruling Johnny ruling Johnny because ITSELF ruling dealing part 3 of 3 elected calling calling elected calling showing sound going sound elected calling showing sound going GOING elected calling elected calling elected calling elected not GOING calling going
STUB CRUFT (rush limbaugh redux) DEALING BEEN DESPERATELY Saturday January 04 2014 part 1 of 3 would believed believed would believed apparatus for doing for would believed apparatus for doing DEALING would believed would believed would believed would people DEALING believed doing part 2 of 3 metaphoric nothing nothing metaphoric nothing sense been thinking been metaphoric nothing sense been thinking BEEN metaphoric nothing metaphoric nothing metaphoric nothing metaphoric top BEEN nothing thinking part 3 of 3 not wing wing not wing big And repealed And not wing big And repealed DESPERATELY not wing not wing not wing not next DESPERATELY wing repealed
CRUFT: Art from Digital Leftovers
My art practice explores the Internet as source material to be appropriated, taken apart, juxtaposed, and recycled by writing computer code that is automated and runs on a 24/7 schedule producing a form of auto-generated collage I call Cruft. The resulting digital artwork allows me to investigate broader issues of traditional concepts—such as originality, creativity, authorship and eternal value. This work examines the relentless flow of information on the Internet that quickly becomes digital leftovers to reveal a relationship in which we don't simply consume media, but are also consumed by it.
In response to the intense pace and constant change happening online, my art practice also includes a slower and thoughtful method of applying traditional media such as charcoal, paint, wax and ink, to prints of selected Cruft images. These mixed-media images are created over longer periods of time resulting in a meditative process that subverts the goals of speed, spectacle and distraction, offering an opportunity for slower looking and deeper thinking compared to the crushing overload of an endless stream of automated Cruft.
The Internet has the ability to provide freedom by connecting us at great distances, democratizing the world's knowledge, and facilitating disruption and resistance to systems of power. It can also simultaneously provide control by restricting and regulating our thoughts and actions while propagating fear, divisiveness, surveillance and repression. My artwork delves into the very nature of the Internet, pulling at it’s strengths and exposing the flaws, producing what has been coined Post-Internet art, that by definition references the "network" that we all inhabit, and ultimately, it's effects on our society and culture.
My art is a personal inquiry into fundamental questions about our values, ideas, fears and dreams. I am interested in how the humanities and technology shape our individuality and communities, and how the arts and humanities can inspire us to ask who we are and what our lives might mean.
Robert Spahr
Carbondale, IL
September 2019