vir.us.exe is a windows program, communicated and spread by e-mail announcements, mailing lists and other networked (viral) press activities.
katastrofsky explains that a virus lives upon the reproduction of itself with the aim to survive as long as possible. However, the most dangerous parts of such an infection are not always the harmful cells a virus is based upon; it is the psychological concept of fear acting invisibly in the background. The project thus strips down the mechanisms of a viral infection and transfers its core principles into the digital realm. By avoiding everything a virus should do, only the virus itself will be left. This way it will become a meta-virus spreading not because it is an actual virus but because it is perceived as such.
vir.us.exe is commissioned by KURATOR and LX 2.0 Lisboa 20 Arte Contemporanea, as part of the Anti-Bodies programme co-ordinated by Relational with support from Arts Council England, granted the London 2012 Inspire mark as part of the Cultural Olympiad.
Anti-Bodies http://www.anti-bodies.net
carlos katastrofsky is a Vienna-based artist working primarily in the field of new media art. His work examines the politics of Internet-based art production, distribution and consumption, and how dominant practices of the artistic modus vivendi - curating, dealing, showing, and reviewing- function in the virtual realm, where the immaterial has replaced the object. His works explore characteristic features of the Internet such as software, interfaces, language, and discussion forums - to question the current development of the Web. He is co-founder of CONT3XT.NET (2006) – a collaborative platform for the discussion and presentation of issues related to Media Art.