Commenting on Vivian Selbo's *vertical blanking interval*
(http://www.adaweb.com/project/selbo/index.html), Kenseth Armstead wrote:

One of the things I liked about The web and web based art is that it was
the UN-televisioned broadcast medium. Their content, even with some
perceptual gymnastics, bears only the slightest resemblance to TV
formulas for delivery.

The web is offering potentially unlimited audience, with no restrictions
on content or notion of program length. And, there are
abso-fucking-lutely no commercials. Wrong, *vertical blanking interval*
has presented me with a hybrid reality that confuses this previously
clear distinction. (There are many other exceptions. But, I know what
Claris.com is. So, I avoid it.) *…interval* is full of traps, barriers
to expression, devices, formulas and censors. Sound familiar?

I don't want to turn it off though or lose a moment of its promising
content. I'm hanging awkwardly. Selbo, ADAwebbian cult guru, has made me
stare down the mouth of a whole WAD of Television's nastiest business,
commercials. *…interval* is a mausoleum for housing the partial
remains of noisy interruptions from the boob rectangle. I wince. "Ay
Caramba!" Where's the entertainment? Damn. You mean all I get is this
decaying orphan. No this is just the start.

*…interval* confronts the viewer with stills from television
commercials. They are, stripped, blinking, flat road signs, not the
transparent vehicles to transport consumers to the birth place of a new
or improved product brand. The product – purchasable item – is not the
referent. The true product in *vertical blanking interval* is an
internal private sign. It is a letter/picture that a Selbo has stolen
away from the syntax of the language pointed at consumers heads.

Selbo is asking me to submit; I am not sure I want to. Naturally, I am
offended by the interruption and afraid of the displaced symbol. I don't
know what to buy? But Selbo doesn't leave me hanging. *…interval* is
ready. Be Patient, boy. "Submit?" Be Patient. "Submit." A fresh sentence
from a clunky budding language is forming.

Java Alert Moral: Spending time is tricky and really enjoying domination
is truly expensive.

In response to this Jason Spingarn-Koff wrote:

I appreciate your insight into the content of the site, but I have to
admit that I *was* entertained, simply because the visual and structural
qualities of the site are so stunning. Selbo has mixed the intelligence
you spoke of with a keen eye and some slick HTML to create something
truly memorable.

I was hooked by the first page, which (via some magical frames trick)
mysteriously tiles and untiles a black page with cryptic video stills,
"submit" buttons, and black boxes.

Throughout, the navigational system is pleasantly frustrating. You
rarely know where you are headed, forcing you to hunt for clues on the
bottom of your browser as you rollover various icons. Each new page is
a surprise.

For a small taste of how slick Selbo is, check out the helix on
intangible.html, made with the <pre> tag. Or how about the (seemingly)
non-functional text-entry field on consider.html, which occasionally
talks back to you.

Indeed, much of the fun for me was hitting the "View Source" button. You
eventually develop a dialogue with the creator which strikes me as a
rare celebration of the medium.