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A paranoid web spider searching for the Devil on the net. By detecting inverted pentagrams in images stored on the Internet, the program determines if the image has evil content and alerts the siteowner.

HellHunt is an application based upon the use of so-called vision algorithms, a way of enabling computers to detect and distinguish geometrical configurations inside pictures. The active algorithm in this piece traces down the diabolic symbol of the reversed pentagram on images stored on the Internet.

When the program hits an image that corresponds with the algorithm, it draws the lines of the hidden pentagram on it. Furthermore, it saves the address of the page and sends an e-mail to it, kindly demanding the removal of the harmful image.

The piece was conceived in autumn 2000 and during the implementation process there were rumors and indications that governmental forces were also developing or had already developed similar computer programs. It all culminated with the devastating attack on the World Trade Center in New York on the 11th of September 2000, and the suspicion that the Al-Queda had used stegonography to conceal their correspondence. The exhibition where HellHunt made its first appearance opened just nine days later and by then it was no longer a speculation that similar programs were running around on the net, looking for messages and symbols in pictures that could be linked with various terrorist organizations. What separates HellHunt from the programs used by governments is that the latter has a person filtering out what the computers suggest as a picture containing harmful content. The HellHunt does not have this feature and therefore shows a more erratic paranoid behaviour.

This program is more about the mechanics of the mind than it is about computer vision. But when the paranoia of the world's different cultures is combined with new technology, it can become really ugly. The HellHunt piece shows that such a projection is in the mind of the interpreter. It is a projection of what you want to find in a picture and not what is actually there.

Hellhunt in Budapest. Photo: Loove Broms. hellhunt220081.tif (6.7 MB)	Hellhunt in Budapest. Photo: Smart studio. hellhunt_installation.jpg (0.7 MB)	Hellhunt in Moscow. Photo: Arijana Kajfes. P1010005.jpg (1MB)
Hellhunt in Moscow. Photo: M'ars Gallery. DSCF1502.jpg (162 kB)	Hellhunt in Oslo. Photo: doga. img_1680.jpg
	HELLHUNT OUTPUTS	Note: hellhunt downloads images from the Internet - this is the reason for the low resolution on some of the images.
Hellhunt: Spice girl (with pentagram). hellhunt_spice.jpg (0.2 MB)	Hellhunt: Chupa Chups logo (original) chupachupslogo.jpg (0.4 MB)	Hellhunt: Japanese actress Shinobu Terashima (original) 21terashima210.jpg (0.4 MB)
Hellhunt detected a pentagram in this image of Alyssa Milano, from X-Landers World Charmed Image Gallery. alyssa2_mounted-800.jpg (0.1 MB)	Hellhunt: Chupa Chups logo (with pentagram) chupachupslogo_hell.jpg (0.7 MB)	Hellhunt: Japanese actress Shinobu Terashima (with pentagram) 21terashima210_hell.jpg (0.47MB)
Hellhunt detected a pentagram in the U.S. Air Force logo, from U.S. Airforce Personnel Center USAirForce-mounted-800.jpg (0.1 MB)	Hellhunt detected a pentagram in La Joconde (aka Mona Lisa), from WebMuseum joconde-mounted-800.jpg (0.1 MB)

also see press images

KEYWORDS
paranoia · hidden semiotics · filters of interpretation

PEOPLE Thomas Broomé · Olof Bendt · Fredrik Petersson

LINKS
Lords of Legacy

press images