Anonymous Italian artist, xname discusses Virtual Entity, a research project with an enigmatic Net artwork at its centre. A simple piece of software created by the artist enables users to create (and edit) the 'soul' of any file on the Web by writing and rewriting its metadata (the set of information that describes a file's content and makes it findable). The project subverts more traditional approaches towards digital property and identity. It suggests that by assigning a soul to a file it becomes an independent creation, living a unique life and experiencing levels of transformation in the course of its virtual existence.

Image: Virtual Entity Monster, 2011 – Realtime Visualisation of the Database of Souls,
design: xname, code: Gabor Papp, photo: by Pau Ros, 2011