Description

Crank the Web is a browser that allows people to physically crank
their bandwidth in order to see a website. Simply enter a URL, start cranking, and text and images appear in the browser window. The idea behind Crank the Web is to combine ancient forms of automation with today’s digital telecommunications technology. All bandwidth should be free and everyone should have access to the fastest speed connection. It is up to you to physically crank your bandwidth so that your internet connnection will rely on your personal strength, not personal wealth.

Press Mentions

Included in “Internet Art“, by Rachel Greene, Thames and Hudson, 2004.

Crank the Web in the New York Times, April 2, 2001.

BrowserWare Article – from Mediachannel.org, 4/11/01

Finalists Announced – from Internet.com’s browserwatch.

Exhibitions

1st Prize Winner at the Fourth International Browser Day, March 29, 2001 at the Great Hall at Cooper Union, NYC.
Interface Explorer Conference, October 18 – Nov. 9, 2001, Vienna, Austria.

Transmediale 2002, Feb. 5 – 24, 2002, Berlin, Germany.

Media[tion] exhibition, 2/16/04 – 4/12/04 @ Doncaster Museum & Art Gallery, Doncaster, UK.

OBORO, 9/16/06 – 10/21/06 @ Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

ArtLabs: Connectivity Show, 10/20/07 – 11/3/07 @ Sibiu, Romania.

EADI (The European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes, 12th Annual Conference / Exhibition – Global Governance for Sustainable Development, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland, 6/24/08 – 6/28/08.

MAKE:CRAFT October 2, 2010 – December 4, 2010, Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA.

System

Users type in a URL on the screen and hit “ENTER” and a blank browser page appears. The page they entered is read into a buffer and using the crank, they send a bit of data at a time to the computer which then unloads the buffer (containing text, images, animation, sound, etc..) into the open window. The page loads according to how fast they turn the crank. There is an indication on screen of the approximate bandwidth speed they are cranking.

Video

Video of Crank The Web at International Browserday, Cooper Union, NYC, 4/10/2001.

Crank The Web installed at ITP/NYU (2001):

Interview with Jonah Brucker-Cohen @ Public NetBase, Vienna, Austria, October, 2001:

Crank The Web installed at the Interface Explorer conference (Vienna, Austria 10/18/2001):

Crank The Web installed at the ArtLabs: Connectivity Show, October 20 – November 3, 2007, Sibiu, Romania:

Crank The Web installed at the IKM installation in Geneva, June 24-27, 2008

Crank The Web installed at the Make:Craft Show at Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA, October 2, 2010 to December 4, 2010