Title: @frommemory
Artist: Elizabeth Deters
Media: Computer, Keyboard with blacked out keys, twitter account
Date: 2009

In ancient cultures, people used reed pens or styluses (or pens and pencils!) to record their thoughts. Today, for the most part, we use the keyboard. This modern instrument of writing differs significantly from the rest in that it translates our human, analog thoughts into a digital form of information. The @frommemory project draws attention to the now commonplace (but still awesome) connection among humans, keyboards, computers, mobile devices, and the Internet.

The @frommemory keyboard displays no letters or numbers. This probably strikes you as unusual and disorienting. Well, to state the obvious, such a keyboard compels you to type from memory. It also brings a new strangeness to the mundane act of typing, or, more precisely in the case of this project, tweeting (communicating via Twitter*). At best, this unusual typing experience tempts you to wonder about the significance of the project entirely. What meaning lies within the keyboard, computer, Internet, and Twitter?

Everyone who tweets has at least one thing in common - they type. Every tweet has at least one thing in common - it says, "somebody typed this." At the most basic level, each tweet testifies to the existence of some person's being. Twitter allows you to document, share, and preserve impressions of your life, the constant "what are you doing" of your life. So, what are you doing? Please tweet.