I only have my name?
Thursday 6 of may 1999 at 14.00 h. central european time, there was an experiment on IRC: Newnet.telia.NO channel: #pointproject

I wanted to find out:
* if it is possible to find out who's the real person out of four possible ones by asking questions via IRC during 15 minutes ?
the answer is 'no'
 * if it is possible to act as a person, one only knows via the net, and pass on IRC for that person during a 15 minutes of questions and answers? 
the answer is 'yes'
 * if people could recognise me on IRC out of four possible persons (I  promised to answer all questions as honestly as possible) 
the answer is 'no'
 
<annied> who are you ?
<anniec> annie
<annied> ok
<anniec> you too
<annied> who I'm I then ?
<anniec> annie?
<annied> no my real name
<anniec> sure?
<annied> just testing if you are annie
<anniec> I am anniec
<annied> because you're not annie
<annied> I'm annie

Thanks to:
Pierre Cuvelier
Karen Dermineur
Yann Le Guennec et
Clement Thomas
who played their roles so well
and to John Hopkins:
facilitator and mentor of the project


 It was a very confusing experience. It's only words, but
In real life I have the feeling, that the only thing of me that will never change is my name.
In this project I shared this never changing element with others, so maybe for the first time I was confronted with the abyss of self.

If you have interesting observations, I will be glad to put them on this page.

I do know that It would be dangerous for me to continue this 'play' (in fact it would mean making a concept of myself and that means loosing liberty), but it might be a good thing to play the game with other persons in the principal role. If you are interested or have ideas or propositions, please contact me


Comment by Rachel Green.

here you can find:
* how the project was announced
* the entire .log file of the experiment
* what the annies 'said'
this project was initiated by "pointproject" Academy of Fine Arts , Helsinki.
please smile on your neighbour in the morning
reactions=A name should not be idolized, just like we do not idolize perfect figures such as circles, it is a categorizational attempt at disecting a personality materialistically... why bother going to psychologist than, a name is O-N-L-Y one category out of many more ... yet to come... (no clue if this is what you asked, but this is what I wrote after reading the purple, red, lime worded descriptions - Marianna)
reactions=jorge tellier, a chilean poet say "always I think in the last person who pronunce muy name" sorry but is muy translation in spanish:
"siempre pienso en la persona que pronuncie por última vez mi nombre" Alicia Geisse
reactions=Establishing relationship through naming by imposing a constellation of assumptions, associations, experiences,etc, names only the constellation. So self-naming is asserting a constellation, naming by others is imposing, etc. Both assume authority over the constellation ie to name is to convict, separate, deny relationship. Hence the experience of identity as abyss. What if neither have valid authority? Establishing relationship/naming can proceed only by releasing the name bearer from all constructed past/futures. Valid relationship is possible only in a durable now in which the name is an exchange of gifts, an affirmative "we" instead of "you" or "she/he." Don Conway
reactions=I last recognised you in the animal republic, on a vast island of unknown location, inhabited by many different species of beast and birds who have rid themselves of the tyranny of man. You may remember that we found the island had many characteristics described by classic poets: the lambs associate with the wolves, the falcons fly wing in wing with the pigeons and the swans chatted with the serpeants. I found you gazing at the phoenix's palace, where magnificent spectacles took place, I remember that you were particularly taken by the "Colour Display" by the birds of paradise" Was Annie your real name or were you in hiding that day?  awesome
reactions=Reminds me of those old AI tests, but they were, as far as I know not related to name - identity. 
The other contemporary position would be rename - identity; is the person/ place/ object still the same when renamed /eastern european postcommunist practice/. Those who rename believe there is the change. 
ana.peraica
reactions=I didn't expect that this could confuse me that much. I am not the player. When I use irc - I use it for communication only. So it was hard to recognize that at the end I was no longer interested who the real annie is.
Don't human take every possibility to play a role (most of them) and doesn't the community pressure them to do so in general? And some are releaved if they have legelized options to do so like in chat, muds or adventure games. Is it really that important if I call myself frutja or Nadja or whatever when only I know exactly who I am anyway?
Anyway I think today the difference is getting bigger between what you think of yourself and other peoples thinking who you are.
Frutja or Nadja or even no_one.
reactions=i was in some web site. i clicked to remove myself from it. right in the second where the computer was processing my command i saw my name on the page. i went back to it and searched for a long time but it never came back. sharp_shtr
reactions=I hope you view this as a universal truth and not some odd kind of drastic disruption in your life. I guess what I mean is; we all go through this, most of us do it blindly. And the few that have their eyes open are a bit intimidated by what it is they see. But we've made it this far... Try to enjoy it. We still have so much more to learn.
reactions=i wonder...-wonder if mite i be the one actual human...that all of my acquaintances are only drones, that "they" are testing me to see if i am ture...  Linda Batiuk
comment= In this experiment Abrahams tried to answer a number of questions, such as 'What is palpable of the personality behind the internet identity?', testing recognition and sincerity, what is real and what is not, in environments like IRC (Internet Relay Chat) channels. Using fifteen-minute question-and-answer sessions, she tried to establish if people could recognize her, out of four users called Annie. The results suggest that normal aspects of subjectivity, such as personality and opinions, become neutralized in many online venues.
Rachel Green in her book "Internet Art", Thames &Hudson, 2004, pg 92-93. ISBN 0-500-20376-8.
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