Alias in Wonderland

by Bernhard Faiss

Printed matters for an exhibition of the Digital Art Department/ University of Applied Arts Vienna atFreiraum/quartier21, Museumsplatz 1, A-1070 Vienna

Alias in Wonderland website

The shaping of reality takes place using references and images. In the digital age, the number of images has grown exponentially. In computing, a reference point is designated as an "alias". The alias was invented in order to be able to use memory capacity in a more efficient manner. The alias is subject to size limitations, but nonetheless already provides an idea of the original to which it refers. Thus an alias in a computer is a signpost to a larger file and a reference to data that exists elsewhere. Accordingly, in other words, an alias is a type of key, or "rabbit hole" to memory.