Here is a book by an influential net/media artist from the Netherlands! This was a result of Heemskerk’s research time at CERN in Geneva and the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen, where she tried to find answers to her question: what if computer language was not binary but (following from quantum physics), instead of following dualism (on/off, 1/0) following quantum computing: what would that do to the output of computers, what would it mean to our way of exchanging information?

She asked these questions to a number of scientists (mostly physicists), reverting all the time to Alice and Bob as symbolic for A and B in an information system. Joan calls these “collide conversations”.  “Clay” refers to the material where the information/output is stored. Throughout the book we read dialogues between Alice and Bob with phrases that were selected from the actual interviews.

The cover of the book shows an arrangement of ping pong balls on acoustic bubble foam, forming the phrase “Hello, World!” – a well known phrase being the default test output of computers, under ultraviolet light. UV light plays a significant role in quantum physics, impacting the location of particles.

With this book Heemskerk expresses her fascination for quantum computing and for language, building upon her decades-long work both individually and as half of the duo JODI (with Dirk Paesmans). They are well-known for their investigating and manipulating the Internet, computer programmes and video games already since the early 1990s.

Softcover, published in 2025.