NETCAST INFINITY — A Portal to Nowhere
A piece of experimental telecomm art
NETCAST INFINITY exists as a disembodied entity. It is nowhere and everywhere all at once. It lives in a telephonic ether and is accessed by dialing the following number 1–888–805–0151 on your telephone. It can be summoned at any moment. It exists as a linear process with the potentiality of an unending experience. You can never go backwards, you can never press pause, it only moves forward.
NETCAST INFINITY is a piece of experimental telecomm art. It is a closed loop system that takes the participant through an unending maze of hold music, direct advertising, phone transfers, and text messages for a fictional absurdist monopolistic television and internet conglomerate called NETCAST INFINITY.
The initial application of NETCAST INFINITY was seeding Philadelphia and New York with the postcards shown above. The image is an advertising promo for NETCAST INFINITY that presents a “too good to be true” offering of free internet and cable. It does include the following fine print on the ad:
“NETCAST INFINITY is not a real company. It does not offer any telecommunications service. It is performance art by TOMMY TOMMY II. By calling 1–888–805–0151 you will be placed on an infinite phone loop. It is your duty to end the call at your own volition.”
The intention of the work is to bring unsuspecting callers who disregarded the “fine print” into a ‘non-place’, a place that one merely passes through en route to a destination. A physical example of a ‘non place’ is a bus station or train terminal. In this case, the ‘non-place’ is being placed “on hold” with the destination being the potential outcome of free internet and TV. Here, in this state of being “on hold”, the participant is conditioned through previous experiences of being “on hold”, to shift conscious attention away from the experience of being “on hold”, and go into a state of passivity because being “on hold” is by its very nature an experience devoid of value. Through the shifting arc of the program, the participant is triggered to dedicate attention to the experience of being “on-hold” via pre-conditioned responses, such as the interruption of the hold music, text message triggers, the sound of the phone trilling, and the sound of a human’s voice. These opposing forces of passivity and attention create a cognitive dissonance that leaves the participant in an unresolved state.
The program also offers participants the illusion of control. Here at certain opportunities, the participant is directed by a computer-generated voice to make a number selection via their telephone keypad. Here they choose between a limited set that will send them through a progression that will loop back to the next set after it runs its course. This process of selecting between a limited set of options is precisely the situation consumers find themselves in when choosing between the major bohemeths that control the television and internet space. One has no choice, it is an either-or proposition, one that only offers the illusion of free choice.
The experience is uncanny by construction. The hold music experienced on the call is composed of recordings of actual hold music from my personal experiences of being “on hold”. The language of the ads and slogans are based upon tropes and patterns used by the major TV and internet companies. The computerized female voice has been recorded and edited in such a manner to mimic the speech patterns of a human’s voice. The shifting nature of the program, via call transfers and text messages, mirrors the absurdity of navigating dense and isolating bureaucratic structures. The experience is so uncanny, that depending on one’s perception and awareness, one may never find their way out of the call.
The further the participant ventures forth on the programming experience the more the illusion of Netcast both rejects and reinforces the experience of being “on hold”. The messaging uses uneven language as cues to prompt the listener to reflect on the experience itself, to go back and look at the fine print on the postcard and resolve the experience by ending the call.
The messaging borders the absurd:
“Have you experienced a horrific loss or had a major set-back in your life? Well, our yuck yuck tv package gives you silly light hearted content that will have you laughing tears of joy.”
It straddles the taboo:
“With the Netcast’s adult entertainment package you can get hot and wet right in your living room.”
It prompts self reflection:
“You will never have another moment to yourself. You will never have another moment to yourself. You will never have another moment to yourself. You will never have another moment to yourself.”
And it instills a sense of utopian fantasy:
“We are your escape to another life. A better life. A life on the edge of Infinity.”
The piece eventually loops and will go on indefinitely without ever reaching a conclusion. There is no one to answer the other end of the call. There is no final destination other than the ‘non-place’. The longer you stay on the call the more you are teased with the eventuality of speaking with a customer support representative who can fulfill the promise of “free internet and cable”. The longer you stay on the call the deeper your time investment becomes and the harder it becomes to end the call due to time loss.
Outside of the original application of luring in unsuspecting callers, the experience of NETCAST INFINITY to those in the know can be a completely resolved experience. There is a sense of freedom and relief in making a telephone call without ever having to engage with an end user. It is something we simply never do. The telephone and its function is one of rigid utility. By calling NETCAST INFINITY you are likely taking your first trip into the telephonic world without having a destination. There is no receiver on the other end, there is no task or action to be had, there is only the experience of NETCAST INFINITY.
So, call 1–888–805–0151 today and live out your dreams with NETCAST INFINITY!