Encyclopedia and Other Works: Alan Currall

Encyclopaedia is a droll and disarming artists’ CD Rom work in which a series of sound-bite entries on various specialist subjects are provided, not by recognised pundits, but by a number of non-experts whose knowledge and opinions have influenced the artist in some way. In its visual form and subject material, Encyclopaedia plays with and parodies the notion of the authoritative, all-encompassing reference work implied by its title. At the same time, the illusion of authority bestowed by the works structure is subtly undermined both by a disarmingly low-tech graphic style, and by a choice of subject categories which increasingly highlights the impossible and arbitrary nature of the exercise.