Beyond the Sphere of Reasonable Doubt: Diaries of Virtual Alien, 2001-2003

On the first of November 1999, a daily diary of the web started in the shape of Y2K Diary.net. The year 2000 year has been immortalised in a book: The Y2K Diary / The Y2K File. From then on the website became DiaryUnlimited and continued to present a new entry each day. The site quickly became a news feed and several UK agencies such as Defra -the Department for Agriculture- and the Department of Health linked some entries to their websites. All the miseries of life and the most unconventional news report has been filed. A whole decade has been profiled. The diary started in London but one of its main authors, the artist Nick Peterson / Virtual Alien / Old Nick moved to New York in 2007 and the diary took a turn reflecting the web viewed from America. The cover is based on a UK tax filing presentation with added blood stains symbolising the huge effort, that is the right to exist, the obligation to file a tax return each year, sometimes in a messy and disorganised way as the system intended. The diary is also a guide, a self-help on surviving in the 21st century and on how to avoid some of the pitfalls of life.