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The History of Extreme
Writing (for communicating across an uncommon distance) is relatively recent,
given the thousands of years that humans have been communicating. The 17th century semaphore system
for relaying telegraphic messages might be one, if you consider the semaphore’s
decoration of a
building- or hill-top to be a piece of writing. Smoke signals
and forms of communication relying on interrupted transmission of a powerful
light source might look to be part of the environment, epically in regards to
smoke, it message bright and visceral, and somewhat lasting, as it message
moves and grows and dissipates (depending on the area’s climatic conditions for
the hour).Church bells might apply (reminding the faithful and the fearful to
consecrate hope and fear), as might the
Mullah’s voice, or the sound of a ram’s horn. Outside of things like mail, or
the very short-lived super-mail Pony Express system, there was precious little
that could be seen as a pre-electrical telegraphic regional internet.
Perhaps the greatest example
of Extreme Writing came this French effort to advertise on clouds. Electrical advertising in general came a
little slowly following the invention of commercial electricity. The,
um, adventurous PT Barnum contracted the first electric bulb writing (utilizing
the Edison invention) in Manhattan
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