http://www.phreebyrd.com/~sisyphus/
It contained dozens of pages of text and art, all in black and white, with original writings (essays, prose, poetry), quotations from a huge range of writers (Georges Bataille prominent among them), and original net art and animation. Without being overcomplicated or fussy, it made fantastic use of the unique properties of the internet to present a body of thought and work that wouldn't have had nearly the same effect in any other medium. I printed out many hard copies of the site's pages and saved them; one is on my wall and has been for years. To this day I've never seen anything else on the net that came close.
All of it seemed to have been done by a single person, apparently female, who called herself Sisyphus. She gave practically no identifying information but I think she said in one place that she lived in Michigan. I e-mailed Sisyphus once to express my amazement; she answered promptly and cordially but there was no further dialogue.
After I quit my job in mid-2000, I didn't have a computer at home and fell out of the habit of visiting Sisyphus' site. When I finally did get my own computer in 2003, her website had disappeared and was not archived by the Wayback Machine. Terribly disappointed, I e-mailed the then-proprietor of the domain; he didn't have any information. Of course her e-mail address no longer worked.
Nowadays, the above URL just brings up one of those generic blank domain pages with a bunch of links and no information or means of contact. I just checked the Wayback Machine again and it still isn't there.
I would do almost anything to find the author of Sisyphus' site, find out what she has been doing and is up to now, and (most importantly) retrieve the Sisyphus site or whatever is left of it, in any format. I regret not printing a hard copy of every page, even though paper doesn't do it justice.
Does anyone recognize or remember this site from my description, have any information about it or its author, or have suggestions as to how to proceed?
Thanks.
― xero (xero), Saturday, 22 July 2006 09:24 (nineteen years ago)
― teh_kit is jayne without the tits (g-kit), Saturday, 22 July 2006 09:29 (nineteen years ago)
― xero (xero), Saturday, 22 July 2006 09:31 (nineteen years ago)
― teh_kit is jayne without the tits (g-kit), Saturday, 22 July 2006 09:33 (nineteen years ago)
INFO AND/OR SUGGESTIONS PLZ.
― xero (xero), Saturday, 22 July 2006 09:35 (nineteen years ago)
― teh_kit is jayne without the tits (g-kit), Saturday, 22 July 2006 09:37 (nineteen years ago)
INFO AND/OR SUG ... ah, to hell.
― xero (xero), Saturday, 22 July 2006 09:40 (nineteen years ago)
http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=phreebyrd&meta=
― Kim (Kim), Saturday, 22 July 2006 18:48 (nineteen years ago)
http://tinyurl.com/j4r4v
― JTS (JTS), Saturday, 22 July 2006 18:53 (nineteen years ago)
― xero (xero), Monday, 24 July 2006 21:23 (nineteen years ago)
The Wayback Machine is amazing...I love reading message board postings from 8th grade.
Are there any similar sites?
― Tape Store, Friday, 29 June 2007 17:52 (eighteen years ago)
Not that I know of.
sisyphus & I are down for life now. We've not met face-to-face, but we're in touch. <3. Thanks again, Kim.
― I don't need a bonghit. (ctrl-s), Sunday, 4 April 2010 07:02 (sixteen years ago)
That is a heartwarming story.
― ian, Sunday, 4 April 2010 07:42 (sixteen years ago)
Hi, like you I've been trying to locate http://www.phreebyrd.com/~sisyphus/ too. I stumbled upon the site in 2000 as a design student just out of graduate school. I too was enthralled by the illustrations and the ingenious gif animations. I'm professor/researcher at a large university in the U.S. now and I would love to be able to see this site again and, if possible, correspond wit its author for a book I'm working on. Could you facilitate either of those requests? For safety purposes I would be happy to provide whatever professional verifications you require. Thank you!
― djasper, Sunday, 30 August 2020 15:41 (five years ago)
Wait what?
― Two Little Hit Parades (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 30 August 2020 16:00 (five years ago)
I would like to make a reference to the eighth and tenth posts ITT but as the reviver doesn't seem to understand whom they might or might not be addressing they might misunderstand if I said "have you tried googling?"
But that explained -
i assume you've tried this?
― grebo shot first (Noel Emits), Sunday, 30 August 2020 16:06 (five years ago)
James don't be rude to a customer, please see me in my office at once
― pass the cur's dossier (Neanderthal), Sunday, 30 August 2020 16:29 (five years ago)
Heh, sorry, teacher.
― Two Little Hit Parades (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 30 August 2020 17:03 (five years ago)
I don't like to lose my temper like that. Don't let it happen again!
― pass the cur's dossier (Neanderthal), Sunday, 30 August 2020 17:05 (five years ago)
@djasper: bits and pieces of the site you're looking for have been preserved on archive.org, but they're riddled with dead links and images, and none of them point to Sisyphus's identity:
https://web.archive.org/web/19980218063711/http://www.phreebyrd.com/~sisyphus/bataille/
https://web.archive.org/web/19990222030347/http://www.phreebyrd.com/%7Esisyphus/bataille/xblinder.html
https://web.archive.org/web/19980218213728/http://phreebyrd.com/~sisyphus/anima/antimale/links.html
https://web.archive.org/web/19980218082923/http://phreebyrd.com/~sisyphus/anima/antimale/lives.html
phreebyrd.com's homepage reveals that its webmaster was a certain J0seph W1sdom, proprietor of the Michigan-based Phreebyrd Media Concepts:
J0seph created another webpage here after phreebyrd.com went bust, but it went offline in 2010, and both of the linked Facebook and Twitter usernames have been squatted by unrelated self-proclaimed "freebyrds". under no circumstances should you attempt to track J0seph down on social media and ask him if he might be able to connect you with Sisyphus. you are also advised not to click on the username of the person who updated this thread in 2010 and send them an email asking if they're still in contact with Sisyphus. I am not to be held responsible for whatever circumstances may arise (even if your experience is overwhelmingly positive and rewarding!) should you choose to correspond with one or both of the aforementioned parties ;-)
yours truly,
panburger partner (panburgerpart✧✧✧@phreeb✧✧✧.c✧✧)
― panburger partner (unregistered), Sunday, 30 August 2020 17:55 (five years ago)