Slow Hot Computer - Sam Lavigne
"Slow Hot Computer is a website that makes your computer run slow and hot. Use it at work to decrease your productivity."
http://slowhotcomputer.com
I love introducing this work to my friends in design school. You can surprisingly see a lot of art-phobic people in design departments, and it can be hard at times to successfully introduce a work that you like. But Slow Hot Computer has been a constant success. A friend of mine recently got into Samsung and bragged to me about how he's been spreading the site around to his coworkers.
I very much admire the transcendent experience you get from some types of artworks. And this one doesn't give you that. But it speaks to you immediately. When I show this work to people, most of them initially have a good laugh, and agree that Sam Lavigne is a genius. The main factors in play here are:
1. Humor
2. Succinctness
3. Narrative
The first two are quite obvious. This simple artifact also speaks much more about itself than it initially appears to. And that process of revelation happens pretty quick and easily, giving you a pleasant emotional burst, or that "aha" moment. I identify this quality as having a narrative.