guts is an attempt to get back some of what is nice about analog communications - the noise that always creeps in. A lot of work goes into ensuring that digital transmissions are error and noise-free but this leaves no room for the spurious artifacts that can make an experience more enjoyable. Audiophiles prefer vinyl records to compact discs because the imperfect reproduction of a record creates an experience that is more "authentic" than the bit-perfect sonic reproduction of a compact disc. guts is an attempt to do the same for web traffic.

I'm interested in the added context that noise gives to analog media - the clicks, pops, and scratches serve as a record of discrete events in the history of the piece of media.

The user would enter a URL or click a link and then, as the new page and its content loads, uh... poke their fingers at the wires. Software on the computer detects the user futzing with the wires and introduces more or less noise on the images, layout, and text accordingly. Images can end up with any number of effects; blurred, scratched, inverted, colors altered, animated to roll, etc. Text and formatting effects include sections moving around the page, colors being changed, words or letters being transposed or otherwise altered, etc. The user can then click on a link or enter a new URL and do it all over again.

The physical interface to guts is a controller that sits inline with the wired network connection and a PC running custom software to modify web content on the fly in response to the controller. The controller appears as a vivisected CAT5 cable with the jacket sliced open and the twisted pairs exposed. The user, by poking at the exposed pairs, introduces "noise" on the signal. The custom software on the PC responds by altering inline images, text, layout, and other elements of the web page selected by the user in real time.