Netochka Nezvanova

Cover art for "krop3rom||a9ff", audio CD, 1997

Netochka Nezvanova is the enigmatic author of [[nato.0+55+3d]], a set of QuickTime externals for Max/MSP. Alternate and retired aliases include "=cw4t7abs", "punktprotokol", "0f0003", "maschinenkunst" (preferably spelled "m2zk!n3nkunzt"), "integer", and "antiorp". Her name is a pseudonym borrowed from the main character of Fyodor Dostoevski's first novel Netochka Nezvanova (1849) which translates loosely as "nameless nobody." ^[1]

Famous for her temperamental behaviour, exasperated outbursts and unashamed assaults on others in public, Netochka (or nn for short) made her presence felt through public mailing lists such as Rhizome Raw. There are many folk stories about her being banned from such public forums, and the resulting backlash as she pursued those she believed had wronged her. Some say she terrorised other subscribers, others describe how love was her motivating factor.

Identity

There is widespread disagreement over Netochka Nezvanova's identity. The earliest identity =cw4t7abs (antiorp@tezcat.com) first surfaced in 1995 on mailing lists and newsgroups relating to electronic music production (for instance, the Kurzweil K2000 music synthesizer) and related Usenet groups (rec.music.makers.synth) with pretentious, nonsensical, and confrontational messages. Her music was an amalgam of electroacoustic art music with influences from industrial and techno genres, resulting in the production of a CD, "KROP3ROM||A9FF", released by Decibel Records in 1997.

On Thursday, February 26, 1998, a New Zealand artist, Rebekah Wilson, performed an extract of A9FF at the "Electric Insights" concert at Victoria University of Wellington; thus it is rumored that the originator or primary creative force behind Netochka is Rebekah Wilson. In the early 2000's, she appeared in person at many art festivals throughout the world—few seemed to notice that it wasn't the same person each time. Some artists claim to have even seen her passport, confirming her identity. There were allegations that certain well-known celebrities were behind the fictitious Netochka. To this day, the truth is not generally known, despite Netochka being one of the most important personalities in early 21st century internet art and software art.

On the other hand, Florian Cramer claims that "It is known today that N.N. was a collective international project, with the person who wrote NATO differing from the one who wrote the message [by Netochka Nezvanova] quoted above.^[2] So, even years after the hype around N.N. has faded, her identity remains in dispute.

She co-won the 2001 artistic software award with Adrian Ward at Transmediale in Berlin, and held the post of "Director of Leaves and Petals" at the esteemed Dutch live electronic music centre, STEIM.

Other software created by NN

[[Image:b1257+12.gif|right|thumb|The main interface of b1257+12]]

• 0f0003 propaganda (1998) - authored with Max/MSP, this program generates stylish animated graphics and sharp synthetic sounds. Offering little interactivity to the user, it can be seen as a demo, bearing aesthetic ties with the 8-bit era demoscene.

• b1257+12 (1998) - a software for sound deconstruction and composition, authored with Max/MSP. The minimal but intricate user interface allows for radical manipulation of soundloops in realtime, offering a large amount of control parameters which, every now and then, take a life of their own. The name of the software refers to a [[PSR B1257+12|rapidly rotating neutron star]].

• @¶31®�≠ Ÿ (1998) - this software, authored with Max/MSP, extracts random samples from a CD and creates a stochastical remix, accompanied by futuristic-looking graphics (according to the reference documents, it is intended for use with the krop3rom||a9ff release).

• m9ndfukc.0+99 and k!berzveta.0+2 (1999) - two programs written in Java interpreting network data, very likely preliminary versions of nebula.m81.

• kinematek.0+2 (1999) - another Java application that performs "animated image generation from internet www data", incorporating parts of nebula.m81.

• nebula.m81 (1999) - an experimental web browser written in Java, rendering HTML code into abstract sounds and graphics. Awarded at the International Music Software Competition in Bourges 1999 and at Transmediale 2001 (first prize in the category "Artistic Software"). Described by jury member Florian Cramer as "an experimental web browser that turned browsing into something resembling measurement data evaluation"^[3].

• !=z2c!ja.0+38 (1999) - a Max/MSP application that generates a dense visual texture based on the user's keyboard input. It (ab)uses the QuickDraw capability of Max and can therefore be seen as a preliminary step towards [[nato.0+55+3d|nato.0+55]].

Notes

References

• Albert, Saul (2002-05). Useless Utilities. Retrieved on 2007-08-24.

• Arns, Inke (2004). Read_me, run_me, execute_me. Code as Executable Text: Software Art and its Focus on Program Code as Performative Text. Medien Kunst Netz. Retrieved on 2007-08-24.

• Carroll, Thomas (2002-05-21). Nameless Nobodies as Virtual Intelligence. Nettime-l. Retrieved on 2007-08-24.

• Nezvanova, Netochka (2000). "The Internet, A Musical Instrument in Perpetual Flux". Computer Music Journal 24 (3): 38-41. ISSN 0148-9267. 

• Neue Kraft, Neues Werk (Transcodeur Express), a documentary film by Ninon Liotet, Olivier Schulbaum and Platoniq, shown on ARTE on april 25th 2002, features an interview with NN. http://www.platoniq.net/nknw/

• IMA fiction: portrait #2 06, a video portrait of Rebekah Wilson, directed by Elisabeth Schimana and produced by The austrian Institute for Media Archeology. Presented at the Transmediale festival on january 31 2007. http://www.ima.or.at

External links

• Salon.com Technology: The most feared woman on the Internet, by Katharine Mieszkowski (March 1, 2002).
• m9ndfukc.com, official Netochka Nezvanova web site
• Words Made Flesh by Florian Cramer features a discussion of Netochka Nezvanova
• A portrait of Netochka Nezvanova, artistic software by Adrian Ward. Classic version (2001) / Mac OS X version (2003)
• Messages in Nettime-l Archives
• A conversation between Netochka Nezvanova and Frederic Madre (March 22, 2000) for the Walker's Art Entertainment Network

• And all is finally revealed

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