E.LIT / NET.ART

The Letter and the Fly

Barbara Lattanzi
The Letter and the Fly
2002

A layered refraction of F. W. Murnau’s classic German Expressionist film Nosferatu (1922), Barbara Lattanzi’s The Letter and the Fly re-edits the film as an interactive work of “low bandwidth cinema.” Each fragmented word or low-res image coalesces on the screen as a part of the download process—a process that shifts as the user moves her mouse across the screen. In this way, Lattanzi’s web applets collapse the separate experiences of film viewing and editing into a single instant.

How to run The Letter and the Fly:

1.

Load the webpage.

2.

Drag the cursor across the image.

Interactive video and Javascript

Run with Shockwave

How to reset The Letter and the Fly:

1.

Refresh the webpage.