Dollar-Post 2.0 is a project by Taiwanese artist I-Yeh Wu, consisting of an e-mail system and a video. Dollar-Post 2.0 extends the research topic Wu has been working on for the past two years - the human aspect on communication technologies in the era of continuous acceleration.
The term ”electronic mail” is generally used for any electronic transmission of documents. Dollar-Post 2.0 is a self-made e-mail system that acts as a medium for sending e-mails. In Dollar-Post 2.0 the speed of electronic delivery correlates with the amount of time the mail would take to travel in real life. The users of Dollar-Post 2.0 can affect on the speed of delivery by choosing between different mailing mediums. Some of these mediums have been used back in the day, some of them are still in use.
The other piece in the exhibition is a video, that tells a fictitious story set in the unspecified future. In the video Wu pictures what the use of technology could be like. He examines this trough a science-fiction set and an expression of love.
In the future, it can be assumed that the delivery of messages will become even more rapid and advanced but communication still requires a human input. By presenting the linear development of communication mediums through past, present and future, Wu is trying to chase and preserve the so-called ‘sentiment’ within the process of using technology for delivering messages; a mental state that remains and belongs to each individual, regardless of how good or bad the speed and quality of the medium are.
*The e-mail system Dollar-Post exists on internet. http://dollar-post.com
