mailer_daemon AKA m_d
The Usenet handle for an obscure and elusive recluse known for creating a diverse and detailed collection of digitally-disseminated multimedia. Posted throughout the 1990s', mailer_daemon (m_d)'s oeuvre contains multiple volumes (or codices) of hyper-text poetry, including Spectral Peaks, the ominously-named I, Antichrist, and the bizarre and icy Meta Simulacrum, numerous diatribes or diary-like entries, scores and compositional directions, digitally-rendered visual art, diagrams for films, masks, and other paraphernalia, and plans for large scale multimedia works. Despite a late '90's upswell in public curiosity, the actual identity of mailer_daemon (m_d) remains unknown1.
m_d appears to have been a digital autodidact2: his work features a startling diversity of reference points (though often including errant or speculative information), including but not limited to Greek Mythology, neuroscience, simulation theory, general Christian apocrypha and gnosticism, ornithology, and quantum theory. Buddhism (specifically Tibetan Buddhism) often functions as a central touchpoint in m_d's work, though his relationship with the practice appears at times strained3. His interests veer from the academic to the populist - at times heavily referencing toy action figure lore4, video game lore, Japanese anime, hair metal, and action movie lore - with no apparent quality of judgement or change in tone. m_d's three codices of hypertext feature an internal manual citation system, sometimes nested upon itself. These codices do however take advantage of the Code-X Digital platform, at times displaying rudimentary coding and the inclusion of lo-res images (in I, Antichrist specifically). The texts display no direct poetic or formal influence, leading to speculation that, in contrast to his music compositional background, m_d had no formal training as a poet or writer.
The first musical score shared by m_d online, "Neon Babylon", was a five-movement suite of electro-acoustic music scored for string quartet, harpsichord, synthesizers, anvil, orchestral percussion, Mahler box, and vocals. Lyrics for the piece were written in both Latin and German. m_d's fascination with what he called "sacred geometry" is on display in "Neon Babylon". Precise costuming directions were included in the score, including a number of foldable heavy paper masks - the largest of which was a minotaur mask to be worn on the head of the harpsichordist5. The suite begins with precise directions for the construction and destruction of a hexagon-insignia'd Mahler box6, a gesture seen by many as a refutation of formalism and/or Christian dogmatism6. "Neon Babylon" exhibits influences ranging from classical composition to jazz fusion, employing a slightly more coherent and conventional compositional language than m_d's later work. Performances of the work were few and fair between, only the relatively obscure experimental classical ensemble Shepherds of Apocrypha released a documented performance.
Although m_d is commonly portrayed as a tragic figure and associated with other reclusive outsider artists, his work bears hallmarks of joy and high levels of internal coherence. However, the general state of his mental health remains a topic of debate - there are numerous references to schizophrenia and shock therapy throughout his work (though few are written from the first person), and he refers occasionally to the experience of a personal "snow crash" - a term commonly thought to reference a mental breakdown. Over time, his postings became increasing difficult to parse - and even access.
Many of m_d's later UseNet postings were gated by cryptographical systems of varying degrees of complexity. The codes needed for Spectral Peaks and I, Antichrist were fairly straight forward and involved REDACTED. The solved codes then provided a hidden link to postings on MindVox's Codex Digital platform. Two late diary-like entries exhibiting signs of mania employ relatively high-level code-breaking to access. Equally difficult to access was what later become known as the Meta Simulacrum, a posting revealing extensive plans for the execution of a culminatory, complex and almost comically ambitious multimedia piece entitled Millenium Rift - m_d's veritable gesamtkunstwerk.
Modern acolytes of m_d's works have attempted maps of his whereabouts based on the triangulation of IP address tracking, tracerouting, and clues in posted content. General consensus is that m_d spent the late 1970's to the early 1990's in New York City. In the early/mid 1990's, m_d appears to have entered into some kind of brief but blindingly intense relationship. Upon the dissolution of said relationship, m_d appears to have left New York for Los Angeles. Alternate interpretations of m_d postings contend that he actually relocated to Los Angeles with his lover, at which point the relationship dissolved. After a short time in Los Angeles, m_d seems to have relocated to the Mojave desert southeast of Los Angeles, somewhere in the Joshua Tree, Landers, or Salton Sea area in pursuit of almost total isolation. The rate of m_d's postings in the late 1990's slow, perhaps due to limited internet access. His multimedia opus, the Millenium Rift, appears to have been either created or completed during this time.
