Surrender Control

The reader of this piece received SMSes over the course of 72 hours with instructions to do many strange things, thereby spreading the narrative into her or his physical surroundings. Invitations to sign up were both advertised on the web and distributed on unsigned fliers in London, thus combining physical and networked spaces. Here are some examples of messages sent, with the date and time they were sent out: 28. Write the word SORRY on your hand and leave it there until it fades. (21/11/01, 00:01) 29. Look at the stars. (21/11/01, 00:59) 30. Think about an ex-lover, naked and tied to a bed. (21/11/01, 10:00) 31. Call someone. Tell a lie. (21/11/01, 13:15) 32. Call them back. Admit that you lied but do not tell the truth about why. (21/11/01, 13:30) Surrender Control is not a narrative in the formal sense, but it may enact a narrative with the recipient of the text messages.

Research Collection that references this work:

Title
Electronic Literature, Chapter 6: Network Writing
Reimagining the City: Interventions of Digital Texts in Physical Spaces

Critical writing that references this work:

Title	Author	Year
Fiction and Interaction: How Clicking a Mouse Can Make You Part of a Fictional World	Jill Walker Rettberg	2003
Distributed Narrative: Telling Stories Across Networks	Jill Walker Rettberg	2005
Travels in Cybertextuality. The Challenge of Ergodic Literature and Ludology to Literary Theory	Markku Eskelinen	2009
Electronic Literature	Scott Rettberg	2018

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Jill Walker Rettberg