Frames 2021 (#0090 – #0099)

Frames 2021 (#0080 – #0089)

Frames 2021 (#0070 – #0079)

Frames 2021 (#0060 – #0069)

Frames 2021 (#0050 – #0059)

Frames 2021 (#0040 – #0041)

Drawing Set #0001 (2022)

Frames 2021 (#0030 – #0039)

Frames 2021 (#0020 – #0029)

Frames 2021 (#0011 – #0020)

Frames 2021 (#0001 – #0009)

RosNoch

Family Portrait

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<html><body><blockquote class="wp-block-quote">&ldquo;The solution is the source of pain and pleasure to the situation to ensure that they don&acirc;&#128;&#153;t do anything or on the way we evaluate the way they love to realize that they don&acirc;&#128;&#153;t want to realize that they have to do it.&rdquo;<cite>Extract from What Will Happen In Your Metaphor?</cite></blockquote>



What Will Happen In Your Metaphor? is a self-help book generated with the Char-RNN machine learning algorithm, using Tony Robbins genre classic &acirc;&#128;&#156;Awaken The Giant Within&acirc;&#128;&#157; as source material.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><a href="http://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/mock_up_2.jpg"><img loading="lazy" width="1024" height="768" src="http://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/mock_up_2-1024x768.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-618" srcset="https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/mock_up_2-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/mock_up_2-300x225.jpg 300w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/mock_up_2-768x576.jpg 768w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/mock_up_2-35x26.jpg 35w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/mock_up_2-27x20.jpg 27w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/mock_up_2-67x50.jpg 67w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/mock_up_2-533x400.jpg 533w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/mock_up_2-800x600.jpg 800w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/mock_up_2-1333x1000.jpg 1333w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px"></a></figure>



The title of the project and the full content of the book, including chapter headings and motivational quotes are generated from the output of a trained software model.



The intention of the project is to not only to demonstrate the power of text based generative frameworks, but also to document the progress of such a model as it learns, with each paragraph in the text generated by another sequential training iteration. The book begins with an almost incomprehensible stream of characters but quickly transforms into fully legible, grammatically correct aphorisms.



In this sense &acirc;&#128;&#152;What Will Happen In Your Metaphor?&acirc;&#128;&#153; exposes an uncanny transition, as a more clear voice gradually emerges from a soup of letters, asking the reader to consider exactly where the meaning of the words resides.



Char-RNN is a fascinating approach, developed by Andrej Karpathy and extensively outlined in his blog post: <a href="http://karpathy.github.io/2015/05/21/rnn-effectiveness/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Recurrent Neural Networks</a>.



It processes large volumes of source text to make predictions on a character by character basis, using multi-layer LSTM&rsquo;s, or &lsquo;Long Short-Term Memory&rsquo; a type of neural network architecture particularly well suited to this task. The learning model quickly builds &ndash; essentially from scratch &ndash; an appreciation of how digital text is structured and is before long out-putting seemingly meaningful novel sentences. Part of what is so interesting for me about Char-RNN is that it demonstrates how susceptible we are to infer from meaning from a text, if the grammar and structure it&rsquo;s presentation seem to match our expectations.



The process of training a model involves establishing constraints about just how it should learn. Most of the generated book is the output of the model as it is &lsquo;learning&rsquo; and more inclined to take risks in how it generates characters. The final chapter represents the output of the model when it has been fully trained and , leading to a higher degree of accuracy.



The source for the project was &acirc;&#128;&#156;Awaken The Giant Within&acirc;&#128;&#157;, a foundational and perhaps seminal text within the self-help movement, for which it&rsquo;s famous author Tony Robbins is a noted figure. Beyond it&acirc;&#128;&#153;s stated aim of being a guide to &ldquo;Take Immediate Control of Your Mental, Emotional, Physical and Financial Life&ldquo;, the original book is an attempt to demonstrate the power of language to transform our thinking &ndash; an intuitively written guide for experiencing the world in a different way by actively reframing how we describe it.




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What Will Happen In Your Metaphor?

A book generated by a recurrent neural network, trained on “Awaken The Giant Within” by Tony Robbins

Feasible Regions

Recent Paintings

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A series of laser cut objects featuring landscapes from &lsquo;solution space&rsquo;, the digital landscapes generated by optimisation algorithms.
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Wow, That Space Is Rich In Solutions

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<iframe loading="lazy" title="Thanks (But Also No Thanks) by Christopher Burman" width="750" height="450" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?visual=true&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Fplaylists%2F365896972&amp;show_artwork=true&amp;maxwidth=750&amp;maxheight=1000&amp;dnt=1"></iframe>
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Thanks (But Also No Thanks) is a 25-minute suite of original music designed to boost your productivity.



It was inspired by the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pomodoro technique</a>&nbsp;which breaks down work tasks into 25-minute hyper-productive intervals, as a soundtrack for production in the digital age.



The music features samples from apps and YouTube set to music entirely composed of Apple Garageband Jam Pack loops. You can read some more thoughts about skeuomorphism and music <a href="http://data.burman.work/writing/skeuomorphic-pop/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.



01 &ndash; Wick [03:53] 02 &ndash; Aspen [02:53] 03 &ndash; Boulder [01:56] 04 &ndash; Orchard Road [01:25] 05 &ndash; Xuijiahui [04:21] 06 &ndash; Thanks But Also No Thanks [03:49] 07 &ndash; The Totally Other / Sphene Gem [07:16]
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Thanks (But Also No Thanks)

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A diagrammatic interpretation of the the 1972 book, Limits to Growth, gently referencing the plaque attached to the Pioneer Spacecraft launched the same year.
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Limits To Growth

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<html><body><figure class="wp-block-image alignwide size-large"><a href="https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/nottingham_skate_park_location-copy.jpg"><img loading="lazy" width="1024" height="683" src="https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/nottingham_skate_park_location-copy-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1028" srcset="https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/nottingham_skate_park_location-copy-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/nottingham_skate_park_location-copy-300x200.jpg 300w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/nottingham_skate_park_location-copy-768x512.jpg 768w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/nottingham_skate_park_location-copy-35x23.jpg 35w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/nottingham_skate_park_location-copy-30x20.jpg 30w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/nottingham_skate_park_location-copy-75x50.jpg 75w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/nottingham_skate_park_location-copy-600x400.jpg 600w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/nottingham_skate_park_location-copy-900x600.jpg 900w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/nottingham_skate_park_location-copy-1500x1000.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px"></a></figure>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" width="1024" height="683" src="https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_4141_edit-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-2331" srcset="https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_4141_edit-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_4141_edit-300x200.jpg 300w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_4141_edit-50x33.jpg 50w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_4141_edit-768x512.jpg 768w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_4141_edit-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_4141_edit-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_4141_edit-1568x1045.jpg 1568w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px"><figcaption>The skate park</figcaption></figure>







<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" width="1024" height="683" src="https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_4134_edit-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-2332" srcset="https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_4134_edit-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_4134_edit-300x200.jpg 300w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_4134_edit-50x33.jpg 50w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_4134_edit-768x512.jpg 768w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_4134_edit-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_4134_edit-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_4134_edit-1568x1045.jpg 1568w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px"></figure>



<div class="wp-block-columns alignwide">
<div class="wp-block-column" style="flex-basis:50%">
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" width="1024" height="683" src="https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_4148_edit-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-2328" srcset="https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_4148_edit-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_4148_edit-300x200.jpg 300w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_4148_edit-50x33.jpg 50w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_4148_edit-768x512.jpg 768w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_4148_edit-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_4148_edit-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_4148_edit-1568x1045.jpg 1568w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px"></figure>
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<div class="wp-block-column" style="flex-basis:50%">
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" width="1024" height="683" src="https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_4145_edit-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-2329" srcset="https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_4145_edit-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_4145_edit-300x200.jpg 300w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_4145_edit-50x33.jpg 50w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_4145_edit-768x512.jpg 768w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_4145_edit-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_4145_edit-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_4145_edit-1568x1045.jpg 1568w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px"><figcaption>Other skate boxes at the park</figcaption></figure>




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Whilst on a residency at One Thorseby Street, Nottingham I was taken to a skate park that the local skate community had begun building in secret. As part of the residency I wanted to contribute to the development of the park by building a sculpture (120cm / 120cm / 40cm / Plaster, Render, Cement, MDF, Acrylic, Yacht Varnish) that also functioned as skate furniture.















This image represents the documentation of the sculpture (apparently scheduled to be demolished in 2016 by Network Rail) as well as a geological lineament analysis of part of it&rsquo;s painted surface.







<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" width="1024" height="683" src="https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_4963_edit-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-2326" srcset="https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_4963_edit-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_4963_edit-300x200.jpg 300w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_4963_edit-50x33.jpg 50w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_4963_edit-768x512.jpg 768w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_4963_edit-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_4963_edit-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IMG_4963_edit-1568x1045.jpg 1568w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px"><figcaption>Surface of the painted skate box</figcaption></figure>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screenshot-2021-07-03-at-10.06.11.png"><img loading="lazy" width="1024" height="527" src="https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screenshot-2021-07-03-at-10.06.11-1024x527.png" alt="" class="wp-image-1827" srcset="https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screenshot-2021-07-03-at-10.06.11-1024x527.png 1024w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screenshot-2021-07-03-at-10.06.11-300x154.png 300w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screenshot-2021-07-03-at-10.06.11-768x395.png 768w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screenshot-2021-07-03-at-10.06.11-1536x790.png 1536w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screenshot-2021-07-03-at-10.06.11-2048x1054.png 2048w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screenshot-2021-07-03-at-10.06.11-1568x807.png 1568w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px"></a><figcaption>The now-destroyed skate park</figcaption></figure>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/yellow_skate_image.jpg"><img loading="lazy" width="1024" height="1024" src="https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/yellow_skate_image-1024x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1029" srcset="https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/yellow_skate_image-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/yellow_skate_image-150x150.jpg 150w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/yellow_skate_image-300x300.jpg 300w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/yellow_skate_image-768x768.jpg 768w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/yellow_skate_image-35x35.jpg 35w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/yellow_skate_image-20x20.jpg 20w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/yellow_skate_image-50x50.jpg 50w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/yellow_skate_image-400x400.jpg 400w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/yellow_skate_image-600x600.jpg 600w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/yellow_skate_image-1000x1000.jpg 1000w, https://data.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/yellow_skate_image.jpg 1262w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px"></a></figure>
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Nottingham Skate Box

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<html><body>Cult of Done was a collaborative installation in which participants were given the opportunity to nail a 450 spray-painted bananas to my studio wall.



It was inspired by the rules of a productivity manifesto called the <a href="https://medium.com/@bre/the-cult-of-done-manifesto-724ca1c2ff13">Cult of Done</a>, with the production of the project followed the rules set out in the document as closely as possible. It was an experiment in rejecting certain ways of thinking, either critical, rational or aesthetic, that I felt I accepted without question and allowing my work to be driven by productivity for it&rsquo;s own sake.



After a particularly long &lsquo;unproductive&rsquo; day in the studio I found myself spray painting a banana and nailing it in to the wall. This action proved so satisfying that I wanted to share it with as many people as possible. The aim was to create a gridded space in which everyone could participate with little effort for maximum satisfaction, and grab hold of&nbsp;their daily dose of done.



The cardboard boxes used to carry and spray the bananas were unboxed, framed and given away as Christmas presents.
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Cult Of Done

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This sculpture was cut, sprayed, hand polished and then installed in situ as my digital work desk before being exhibited a year later.
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Point Of Sale

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<html><body>While You Were Sleeping was composed as part of a Vehicle, a project exploring&nbsp; a number of German car museums built by the major auto manufacturers including Mercedes-Benz, BMW and&nbsp;Porsche. Each brand has it&rsquo;s own monumental gallery space&nbsp; structured around a walkthrough of the history of vehicular transport and it&rsquo;s role in the events of the 20th century, strongly swung to reflect the history of each company.



While You Were Sleeping is a&nbsp;piece of music intended to accompany the experience of&nbsp; this rebranded version of history, a soundtrack to a history of the 20th century reimagined to position German car brands as the central figures.



The original release featured a &lsquo;Tannoy Mix&rsquo;, a specially mastered version that would sound correct played over the public address system of one of the museum as well as a simulated version of what this might sound like.







<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-soundcloud wp-block-embed-soundcloud wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="While You Were Sleeping by Christopher Burman" width="750" height="400" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?visual=true&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F86391472&amp;show_artwork=true&amp;maxwidth=750&amp;maxheight=1000&amp;dnt=1&amp;in=c-burman%2Fsets%2Fbrochure-one-vehicle"></iframe>
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<iframe loading="lazy" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/playlists/4546260&amp;color=000000&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false" width="100%" height="150" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe>



Original CD release:



01 &ndash; While You Were Sleeping [03:35] 02 &ndash; While You Were Sleeping (Background Music Simulation) [03:38] 03 &ndash; While You Were Sleeping (Tannoy Mix) [03:38]
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While You Were Sleeping

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<html><body>Vehicle was a publication made in response to a trip to visit three car museums in Germany.
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Vehicle

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In 2013 &acirc;&#128;&#144; Chinese year of the snake &acirc;&#128;&#144; I moved to Shanghai to live and work. During this time I was offered the opportunity to perform a concert at the Shanghai Apple Store. To play the concert I assembled &ldquo;Visual Basic&rdquo;, a rock band featuring Chinese and international musicians, to perform a set of songs I had written and produced for the occasion using Apple software.
Afterwards I designed a shirt, fabricated by tailors at a local &acirc;&#128;&#152;fake&acirc;&#128;&#153; market, as an attempt to come to terms with my mixed emotions related to the concert. In particular, reflecting on my cooperation with the world&acirc;&#128;&#153;s largest corporation and their attempts to appeal to young Chinese people, living under a communist regime. The shirt represented a one&acirc;&#128;&#144;off piece of merchandise for the show.
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Frames 2021 (#0090 – #0099)

2021

Frames 2021 (#0080 – #0089)

2021

Frames 2021 (#0070 – #0079)

2021

Frames 2021 (#0060 – #0069)

2021

Frames 2021 (#0050 – #0059)

2021

Frames 2021 (#0040 – #0041)

2021

Drawing Set #0001 (2022)

Frames 2021 (#0030 – #0039)

2021

Frames 2021 (#0020 – #0029)

Frames 2021 (#0011 – #0020)

2021

Frames 2021 (#0001 – #0009)

RosNoch

Moscow Machine Images 2019-2021

2019

Family Portrait

Sweet Potatoes

2017

What Will Happen In Your Metaphor?

A book generated by a recurrent neural network, trained on “Awaken The Giant Within” by Tony Robbins

2017

Feasible Regions

Sound Insulation Sculptures

2016

Recent Paintings

Selection of recent paintings.

2016-2017

Wow, That Space Is Rich In Solutions

Solution Space Snapshots

2015

Thanks (But Also No Thanks)

Skeuomorphic Pop music for productivity.

2015

Limits To Growth

2015

Nottingham Skate Box

Nottingham Fun Box

2015

Cult Of Done

Collaborative Installation

2014

Point Of Sale

Desktop Sculpture

2014

While You Were Sleeping

Soundtrack for a car museum.

2013

Vehicle

Publication about German car museums.

2013

Presidential Attire

Clear stitching about mixed feelings.

2013

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