truthiness
the proliferation of data produces a tension between the enormous and the incremental. the impossibility of comprehensive understanding leads to manipulative uses of data; truthiness becomes more important than truth, ultimately shifting the nature of the data itself.
compiled sites
three sites are rendered in terms of their existence in the digital public. as physical observation is often impossible, the sites are pieced together from images tagged as relevant to the site. though seemingly smooth and convincingly truthful, each site is in fact truthy - subject to and shifted by multiple interpretations of the data at hand.
corruptibility
this evident corruptibility allows for new forms of participation; opportunistically repurposing cheap technologies and junk data provides a means of reconfiguring sites to facilitate informal technology transfer.
delineated site
the borders of the compiled site are revealed, exposing the composition of the truthy site. once these distinctions are known, the site can be manipulated to produce new readings and opportunities.
a logarithmic mode of representation points to a potential space that tears itself apart to exist within the interchangeable scales of the site itself and the digital public - operationally, the ships, dump trucks, and shipbreakers all carry out the same processes of fragmentation and sorting.
the concept of a flag of convenience, or a ship’s legal alignment with whichever country’s policies allow it the most freedom at any given time, provides a model for the patent office. it resists a singular reading, appearing as multiple propositions at multiple scales rather than as a singular object.
wifi gerrymander
taking cues from 1960s pirate radio stations off the coast of britain, the patent office exploits maritime law to manipulate the boundaries of the site. through unauthorized wifi signals emanating from the patent office’s telecommunications tower, international territory is pulled into the site. this action allows the patent office to exist both locally and enormously at the same time; data remains fluid and useful.
ambiguous increment
an ambiguous system of references both emerges from and provokes readings external to the site. fragments of ships take on new roles as the spine of the patent office, running along the crucial line between the manipulated territory and its surroundings. truncated sections suggest but do not define space, while the very operations of the patent office itself require a high level of detail and specificity. the tension created between physical tracelessness and digital precision is tenuously held in balance.
border articulation
the patent office harvests the sharp increase in the value of a border at close proximity. the edges thicken and blur - in one direction, the exterior and interior intermingle, stitching the space of the patent office together while exposing the interstitial activities to the same processes of connection and dissemination. highly articulated and physically finite, this edge operates in concert with a transgressible filter, opening the patent office to an ephemeral existence of multiple interpretations and occupations.
