447: Intellect - N
I loved to play Scrabble on the Sinclair ZX Spectrum and was intrigued by the dialogue it gave me: ‘the computer is thinking’ as I waited for it to play its move. In reality a cover-up for its processing power of a mere 48k RAM. I am interested in the differences and comparisons in processing ability between a computer and a brain.
The text of this piece comes from Roget’s Thesaurus. It spells out the opening sections of “Class Four INTELLECT, Division (I): Formation of Ideas, Subsection 447. Intellect”. The soundtrack is a merger of an analogue tape recording of a Sinclair ZX Spectrum loading software with the audio from a classic Spectrum game. Typographer Zuzana Licko says “We read best what we read most” – if I watch this film enough times, I can begin to decipher the words it contains. Am I ‘improving’ my own processing power? The 48k of a ZX Spectrum can achieve some tasks far faster than I ever can, yet a cat has superior processing power to an Apple iPad.
Screened at PoetryFilm Paradox, Groucho Club & Hackney Picturehouse, London and Reykjavik, Iceland
And at Art Language Location, Cambridge
Featured in Atticus Review
2015. Photographs, video
The text of this piece comes from Roget’s Thesaurus. It spells out the opening sections of “Class Four INTELLECT, Division (I): Formation of Ideas, Subsection 447. Intellect”. The soundtrack is a merger of an analogue tape recording of a Sinclair ZX Spectrum loading software with the audio from a classic Spectrum game. Typographer Zuzana Licko says “We read best what we read most” – if I watch this film enough times, I can begin to decipher the words it contains. Am I ‘improving’ my own processing power? The 48k of a ZX Spectrum can achieve some tasks far faster than I ever can, yet a cat has superior processing power to an Apple iPad.
Screened at PoetryFilm Paradox, Groucho Club & Hackney Picturehouse, London and Reykjavik, Iceland
And at Art Language Location, Cambridge
Featured in Atticus Review
2015. Photographs, video
