CONTACT WITH POETS

With now we are friends Fitterman has turned to populating that
new Arcadia with his own brand of lazing shepherd constructed from the
same corporate language he used to sculpt the shepherds’ fields
In October 1969 Vito Acconci performed “Following Piece” in
which he chose a series of strangers, followed them through their daily
activities and transcribed their movements. now we are friends picks up on
this with Fitterman following a single random person across the digital
fields of the internet, allowing the personal flotsam of a single person’s
life accumulate into a rhizomatic biography.
Fitterman chose, at random, the euphonious name “Ben Kessler”
as the basis for his poetic exploration of online identity and tracks
Kessler through his Twitter feed, his “my 10 favorite iPhone Apps of
2008” post, his Tweetdeck reviews and any other online flotsam of Kessler’s
public internet profile. As Fitterman continues to mine into Kessler’s
public internet appearances, the manuscript begins to envelope “other”
Ben Kesslers. When ego surfing, or responding to Google Alerts, how
many of us have had the uncanny moment of reading an entry about another
internet denizen with the same name as ours? Just as our individuality
has become performed through online testimonies, archives photographs
and abandoned dating site profiles, so has Ben Kessler become
intriguing only as one of a platoon of identically-named laptop-wielding
internet-addicted individuals who feel their skills are best used commenting
on which fictional character from a video game or comic book they
would most like to eat a sandwich with.
Ben Kessler’s identity begins to blur when this flotilla of
Kesslers interrupt the narrative by discussing “keeping Faith in times of
transition”, the pratfalls of being a “freelance permaculture teacher” and
warning that:
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