Because the effect of this strategy remains for the most part cognitive, at least for the nonblack viewer, the work cannot realize the universality of address I have been invoking here. Indeed, it is only with the realization of Caught like a Nigger in Cyberspacexximodeled as a computer game whose ostensible goal is entry into cyberspace—that the affective logic so crucial to Piper's work from the early 1990s onward finally becomes the true driving force of his aesthetic. Initially challenging the viewer with the oscillating image of a black male and the injunction, "Click on to interrogate," Caught like a Nigger in Cyberspace subsequently invites the viewer to the "New Frontier" of cyberspace, extending “A Welcome Beneath the Silicon Sun for You and Your Family" (pasted against an image of a white couple and baby), and urging him or her to “apply within" (see Figure 3.1).
When the viewer clicks on this option, he or she is thanked for the application and invited to select one of three handles for entering cyberspace. Selecting “Al Gore Lookalike” yields immediate entry into cyberspace and an invitation to play a game, "Infopoly," in which money endlessly and automatically circulates around a monopoly-like board. Selecting “Techhead" inserts the viewer in a circular loop of derogatory questions and accusations, such as, "Which part ofmouse down' don't you understand?" "Looks like your KeyUpScript just keyed down," and "Read the fucking manual." Finally, selecting “Other" yields a screen informing the viewer that the application has been put on hold and advising of three possible courses: abandoning the application, waiting in a cyberspace waiting room, or a third option obscured by a red sign reading “Do not touch.'
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