Retinal Scans of the Entertainment Section

I got this newspaper at the SFMOMA Museum Store in 2001. It is page after page of seemingly randomly drawn black lines that formed abstract shapes and formations. It iss the size of a broadsheet newspaper and printed on newsprint, and I just assumed it was some absurd, abstract publication. I looked for any information or indentification printed on the paper to clue me in as to its meaning and origins but there was only lots and lots of black lines. I don't remember how much it cost, but it couldn't have been more than five bucks.

It wasn't until a few months later that I was able to piece two and two together and figure out that the newspaper was created as part of a technology and art exhibit at the SFMOMA sponsored by Intel called 010101: Art in Technological Times. An artist who was part of this large group show, Jochem Hendricks, had been hooked up to retinal scanner as he read the entire Entertainment section of the San Jose Mercury News. From the data of where his eye was focused that was collected a new edition of this paper was created in the exact scale of the original. In this new version, Hendrick's thousands of recorded retinal movements were presented a black lines. While the specific words and information aren't printed, the patterns of eye movements are.

Clearly shown are the design patterns of a newspaper. You can see the headlines, the columns of text, the advertisements, and the photographs. You can see areas that are read in great detail and areas that are just scanned. The complexity of movents is amazing and the abstract designs are wonderful and detailed. This abstraction, when mixed with the familiarity of the size and the texture of the paper, as well as the recognizable structure of headlines, columns, and peripherial images, make this curious publication very aesthetically pleasing.

This is a really nice blend of performance art, conceptual art, and book art that was as enjoyable to me (although very different experience) without the context of the exhibit and how it was made as it is with that knowledge. Stangely enough, I came across another copy of this "newspaper" at a junk store ealier this year, so now I have two copies. If anybody would like to check this paper out (and you're in the Bay Area), please stop by our gallery bookstore and take a gander. And if anybody has any additional information about this "book", artist, or exhibit in general, please leave a comment.