One of the teams participating in the New Museum's one-day pairings of artists and technologists has announced their project in advance. The event takes place April 17 and was discussed at length on Paddy Johnson's blog.
Erin Brandstetter (artist) and Ben Kefauver (founder of LiveJournal) will do the following:
Kefauver will spend the day "optimizing" Brandstetter's computer. Eliminating viruses, turning off hidden Windows processes that interfere with smooth running of other software, and removing one year's worth of Windows Security Updates. This will leave Brandstetter's computer vulnerable to "exploits" but it won't matter because she won't be accessing the Internet. The last is a delicate operation: each update must be removed in reverse order from the order in which it was installed, and if anything goes wrong it could destroy her operating system. (Ticketholders with limited time that day might want to come for this part--it should offer edge-of-the-seat thrills.)
Kefauver's cleaning operation will take most of the day. As the clock is running out, Brandstetter will make an animated GIF that will then be projected. "I'm just really looking forward to working with a machine that isn't all gunked up and slowed down," Brandstetter has said. "It will inspire me to do my best work."
Kefauver has commented, "Yeah, I feel like a mechanic, but both of us agree that a day with an optimized Windows machine running third party software beats a lifetime in the closed Apple ecosystem."