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Our Electric Friends: Humanising the Highway, from ‘Autobahn’ to Orbital

Ben Thompson, 'Seven Years of Plenty', 1998

DRIVING ON THE M25 in a rusty Mini. Early evening, thick drizzle. Only one windscreen wiper works because someone has snapped the end off the other and used it to break into a Ford Sierra. Juggernauts loom up on either side - sensed more than seen to the left, as that half of the windscreen is covered in a light film of brown slime. Suddenly, the faulty connection in the tape player rights itself, and a song by Underworld materialises.

Total word count of piece: 3395

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