Video still from the live transmission of the computer program and text.


Audience members contributing by typing in personal anonymous stories to a keyboard. Stories would show up in a different room of the installation anonymously.


Timecapsule containing remnants of the artifacts from the event and installation.

Agrippa (a book of the dead) was an internet event and installation hosted at the Kansas City Art Institute revolving around the work Agrippa, a collaboration between author William Gibson, artist Dennis Ashbaugh, and publisher Kevin Begos. Agrippa was a special edition art book which contained a special computer disk that was designed to playback the book and then destroy itself.

The Event Organized by Cooper:
Cooper created and organized the local event where an live internet performance of the book occured along with an installation which presented artifacts and devices reminiscent of the book and text itself. The live event was part of a larger series of live transmissions of the text and live readings of the book happening at other locations throughout the US. At KCAI the audience first explored the installation, uncovering hidden texts and secrets within the room prior to the reading of the text and live transmission.

The reading and live transmission involved a recorded reading of the text by Penn Gillet while the audience watched a live playback of the computer disk contained within the book. During this time, an computer connected via model to a central vax server broadcast the a fleeting and momentary version of the text to virtual audience members on the early internet of the time. The virtual audience members were logged onto what would now be known as a chat room where the text could be read and also where the virtual audience could communicate with the audience at KCAI.

About Agrippa Today:
A series of webpages and information has been posted by Gibson and the University of California Santa Barbara. You can learn more about the live transmissions, book itself, and even read the text from the book via Gibson's website at the following addresses:

William Gibson Website and Agrippa Page
http://www.williamgibsonbooks.com/source/agrippa.asp

UCSB Agrippa Site
http://agrippa.english.ucsb.edu/

Special Thanks To:
The Kansas City Art Institute, William Gibson, Kevin Begos, Chris Burnett, and the online audience that supported the event. Event organized in coordination with and permission from William Gibson / Kevin Begos Publishing.