Imaginary Evidence is a CD-ROM created by Forced Entertainment with myself, Mary Agnes Krell and other collaborators including David Jennings and Hugo Glendinning. The unique development process employed in its creation and my participation in the process provide the basis for this investigation.

It is described, within the project, by Tim Etchells in these words:

Imaginary Evidence is an interactive essay-cum-archive, a machine for exploring ideas about performance in relation to the history and the work of Forced Entertainment. The collision of ideas, the juxtaposition of sense and non-sense, the drift from, around and to a point are its modus operandi. The collaged, fragmented, incomplete poetical form developed for the CD-ROM mirrors that of Forced Entertainment’s work and process.

Material on Imaginary Evidence is primarily accessed from a sketch-map interface that shows a web of overlapping themes. As its core, the CD contains eighty-three stand-alone fragments of video (documentary, micro-fiction, anecdotal, home movie) which can be watched and explored in any order. There is no correct sequence in which to explore Imaginary Evidence. Its composition is one of ideas, textures, facts and evidence that are repeatedly re-grouped, re-ordered, re-contextualized and, by implication, re-made. On-screen annotations of the video fragments provide a further layer of facts and speculations about performance and the company’s work.

The Imaginary Evidence CD also includes a comprehensive archive section with images of and texts about all of Forced Entertainment’s past projects, as well as about solo works and publications by Tim Etchells.