Spam Graffity by David Chien

http://www.spamgraffiti.com/spamgraffiti/

Developed by David Chien's Spam Graffiti consists of a series of unsolicited email collages.

The project takes email accounts as working spaces. Each account has a corresponding html page that serves as a canvas, a representational space for the emails received under that account. When an email arrives, its content is imposed on to the html document. The result is a constant accumulation of spam texts, which render themselves unreadable after only a few emails have been received. Most recent arrivals seem to be given a larger font size, while older ones seem to acquire smaller sizes. However this last point derives only my interpretation,as such aspect is only vaguely mentioned: "Newer spam appears on top and slowly filters out older spam below".

The project seems to provide effective representations to the numerous unsolicited emails sent to our inboxes. It reminds us of how much spam circulates around the internet. And it succeds in materializing it into an image of noise that disrupts email communication. It also allows for a contrasting image between some of the most, and some of the least vulnerable online services, for the collection of email addresses for spam. The difference between the 11613 messages that fill up the inbox of an account created for a Paypal payment, strikingly contrasts with the 184 messages received by an account used in a community website. Yet, I believe that more detailed information, such as the country from which emails are originary, could further inform this visual mapping of spam.