Beforetheydeletethis.com

Crypto H(e)aven reincarnation 
(2020)

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This work in the form of a website is an iteration of Cryptoh(e)aven – a speculation about the digital afterlife of Gerald Cotten. The second chapter of this work, Before They Delete This, is the result of a collaboration with the artist and curator Kat Zavada. Our collaborative speculation will look at Cotten through a bespoke methodological framework inspired by conspiracy theories.
The process of recreating Gerry's possible realities materialised in the Sims 4 video game. In the game Gerry's avatar, based on his appearance and known character traits, follows its multiple timelines guided by the game's causality controlled by its black box algorithm. No two repeated events in-game have the same consequences. Snippets of Gerry in-game life are scattered as GIFs and videos on the webpages of Beforetheydeletethis. The Sims distinct appearance is intermixed with the "aesthetic" of conspiracy theory websites, web chat typography and reddit content to reflect the speculative trans media investigation that is currently underway online and IRL. The case is not solved.