Kirschenbaum, Matthew G. “Hacking ‘Agrippa’: The Source of the Online Text”

Matthew G. Kirschenbaum, “Hacking ‘Agrippa’: The Source of the Online Text,” excerpted and adapted from a chapter-length discussion of Agrippa in Kirschenbaum’s book Mechanisms: New Media and the Forensic Imagination (MIT Press, 2008). Kirschenbaum notes: “Mechanisms addresses itself to the textual and technical primitives of electronic writing, with special attention to the qualities of erasure, variability, repeatability, and survivability for electronic objects.” (This advance excerpt was posted on The Agrippa Files with Kirschenbaum’s permission in 2005.)

See also Kirschenbaum’s later discussion, “No Round Trip: Two New Primary Sources for Agrippa.”

Begos, Kevin. “[Title of Essay To Go Here”]

[Under construction: Kevin Begos’s essay to go here]

Simulation of Fading Pistol Source Image

Hodge, James J. “Bibliographic Description of Agrippa” (Commissioned for The Agrippa Files).

This detailed bibliographical description of Agrippa was commissioned for The Agrippa Files, and is based on examination of the copy in the New York Public Library supplemented by examination of the privately-held “Archive-1” copy of the work (shown to the site editors by the publisher, Kevin Begos, Jr.) and the “promotional prospectus” in the Whitney Museum of American Art. Also consulted were descriptions of other known publicly-accessible copies in museums and libraries. Correspondence and an interview with the publisher supplied additional information.

The Agrippa Files Editors Are Grateful to the Following . . .

 Individuals

 

  • Kevin Begos, Jr., publisher of Agrippa (for photos of the work, archival materials, and consultation).
  • Allan Chasonoff (for loan of original diskette from the copy of Agrippa in his book art collection).
  • Quinn DuPont, who organized the “Cracking the Agrippa Code” contest in 2012 and allowed the results to be archived on The Agrippa Files. (In 2014, emendations to some of The Agrippa File’s original descriptions of Agrippa’s disk and code have been made in light of discoveries resulting from the contest.)
  • Jane Faulkner, Coordinator for Instructional Services and English & French Literature Librarian, Davidson Library, UCSB (for collaboration on the Dec. 1, 2005, exhibition and panel at the UCSB Davidson Library marking the launch of The Agrippa Files).
  • François Grieu, software engineer based in Paris (for a technical analysis of the disk image of the “Agrippa” diskette posted on The Agrippa Files).
  • Matthew G. Kirschenbaum, Associate Professor, Department of English, University of Maryland, College Park, and Associate Director of the Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities (for contributing a preprint excerpt from his book Mechanisms: New Media and the Forensic Imagination (MIT Press, 2008), the follow-up essay “No Round Trip: Two New Primary Sources for Agrippa, assistance in making available the bootleg video and emulation run of the Agrippa diskette, the Virtual Lightbox, and suggestions of materials and ideas for the site).
  • Robert Maxwell, Digital Forensics Lab and Office of Information Technology, University of Maryland, College Park (for assistance with the production of the emulation run of the Agrippa diskette).
  • Doug Reside, Assistant Director of the Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities at University of Maryland, College Park (for assistance with the production of the emulation run of the Agrippa diskette).
  • Brian Reynolds, Computer Systems Specialist, Department of English, UCSB (for server administration and video-encoding expertise).
  • Carol Rusk, Benjamin and Irma Weiss Librarian, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City (for consultation on the Whitney’s copy of an Agrippa prototype).
  • Marc Scarpa, Strategic Advisor and former President of Jumpcut, Inc.; Strategic Advisor to www.travelistic.com (Diversion Media), www.iamplify.com, www.pier59studios.com, www.television.com; former New York Bureau Chief of C|NET television; Co-chair of Producers Guild of America, New Media Council NY Committee, and www.pganewmedia.org; Partner, LIFEbeat – The Music Industry Fights AIDS. In 1992, Marc Scarpa was hired by Kevin Begos, Jr., to help produce “the Transmission” event.
  • Amy Schlabitz (for assistance in tracing information related to an article about Agrippa in the German magazine Musik Express).
  • Amanda Stevenson, Registrar/Administrator, Center for Book Arts, New York City (for providing a copy of the exhibition flyer for Agrippa from the Center for Book Arts).
  • David C. Tambo, Head of Special Collections, Davidson Library, UCSB (for collaboration on the Dec. 1, 2005, exhibition and panel at UCSB marking the launch of The Agrippa Files).
  • Amy Weiss, Librarian, Cataloging Department, Davidson Library, UCSB (for guidance in bibliographical description).
  • Freek Wiedjik, mathematician and Assistant Professor of Computing and Information Sciences at Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
 Sponsors

 

Agrippa

Liu, Alan. Excerpt from The Laws of Cool

Alan Liu, The Laws of Cool: Knowledge Work and the Culture of Information (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 2004), pp. 339-48. This excerpt follows a discussion of William Gibson’s Neuromancer and is part of a chapter entitled “Destructive Creativity: The Arts in the Information Age.”

Laws of Cool

Unofficial Cyberpunk FAQ

Unofficial FAQ for the Usenet Newsgroup alt.cyberpunk” 1 Jan. 1993. Retrieved 29 Sept. 2005. http://project.cyberpunk.ru/idb/cyberpunk_faq_old.html

Section 7 of this FAQ discusses Agrippa and includes excerpts from press coverage of the work at the time. (more…)

Rasenberger, Jim. “Book Lark.”

Vanity Fair May 1992: 124.

Short note accompanied by photos of William Gibson and of the first prototype for the Agrippa book. (more…)