I occasionally get e-mails from Miranda July because I once subscribed to one of her electronic mail art projects. She's an interesting lady. Her work typically deals with what may seem mundane yet somehow turns into something special. I recommend to anyone that they read the book 'No One Belongs Here More Than You'. Good summer read, full of introverted oddities and surreal daydreams. Website here.

This is an excerpt about her new app:

When you send your friend a message through Somebody, it goes β€” not to your friend β€” but to the Somebody user nearest your friend. This person (likely a stranger) delivers the message verbally, acting as your stand-in. The most high-tech part of Somebody is not in the phone, it’s in the users who dare to deliver a message to a stranger. Half-app / half-human, Somebody is a far-reaching public art project that incites performance and twists our love of avatars and outsourcing β€” every relationship becomes a three-way. The antithesis of the utilitarian efficiency that tech promises, here, finally, is an app that makes us nervous, giddy, and alert to the people around us.


posted 3520 days ago