Alva Noto, Anne-James Chaton

Uni Acronym

Data
Uni Acronym
2011
Alva Noto, Anne-James Chaton (Germany, France)

Courtesy of the artist

Video (00:06:41)

Alva Noto’s piece Uni Acronym deals with acronyms, which are composed of the first letter of each word in a phrase, subsequently forming a new word. Acronyms are frequently used in programming language and are highly popular in online communication because they speed up the typing process. Uni Acronym involves 208 three-letter acronyms that indicate the names of a variety of well-known companies, political parties, TV programs, public transportation, international organisations, or banks. The abbreviations are lined up alphabetically, thus creating serendipitous and eerie connections between, for instance, MAO, MP3 and MTV, or RAF, RAI and RAM. The work is accompanied by a fast-paced pitch narrated by a machine voice and, depending on one’s knowledge about the diverse connotations of the acronyms, a different narrative is created for each and every visitor individually.