I am in a group with Tammy. She is a very cool and creative nonfiction writer.
I am a creative fiction writer (although, I'll pretty much go for anything creative.)
We have decided on a major idea/concept for our project.
I am going to write a short story (most likely flash fiction: a really short short story that gets to the point quickly and puts a large emphasis on conciseness), and Tammy is going to review and comment on it.
That part of the project will show off both of our awesomely different talents.
In order to make this project into an interactive fiction piece, we are going to link her reviews and comments directly to each other through links on specific words and phrases. This way, a reader will be able to read through my story, and take many different paths throughout that lead to her nonfiction response.
At that point, the readers' views of my work will be different depending on which links they followed and when. In other words, Tammy's views will change or strengthen the views of the readers depending on when each individual diverges from the story to follow a link.
Readers will also be given the option of reading her reviews first, then following links in the reviews that lead to my work.
We will span our project across both of our websites so that a reader can go to Tammy's first and begin interacting from her responses to my story, or a reader can begin on my page.
In short, there will be a clear beginning and a clear finish to our project. However, it is up to the reader to decide which end is which and in what order the middle will be read.
|?|2377'/ (007 , |-||_||-| ?
<(^t^)> <-- that is me if i were a cyber kitty
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
\/\/|-|47 15 |\|4|2|2471\/3 ?
When you are writing anything or playing a game, you are narrating.
A narrative is something that has already been narrated. You can no longer add to it by narrating; therefore, you must read it as a narrative.
However, if you write fanfiction, you then become the narrator by continuing the narrative you have read. But, once you have finished narrating, the new work is now also a narrative.
If someone goes through a cybertext, determines a specific path to go through, and then puts it together to be read consecutively, that path is a narrative.
Also, when a narrative is heavily edited or rewritten, it is no longer a narrative in that process, but once the process is finished, it becomes a different narrative.
And... if you film someone playing a game (or record it in some other way), that film becomes a narrative because it can no longer be changed. But the game itself remains a means of narration.
In short, the reason that the meaning of the term "narrative" is so complicated is because a narrative is only a narrative when it is finished.
You cannot write or create a narrative; you can only read a narrative after it has been written or played through and recorded.
ahh... so confusing, but so beautiful.
A narrative is something that has already been narrated. You can no longer add to it by narrating; therefore, you must read it as a narrative.
However, if you write fanfiction, you then become the narrator by continuing the narrative you have read. But, once you have finished narrating, the new work is now also a narrative.
If someone goes through a cybertext, determines a specific path to go through, and then puts it together to be read consecutively, that path is a narrative.
Also, when a narrative is heavily edited or rewritten, it is no longer a narrative in that process, but once the process is finished, it becomes a different narrative.
And... if you film someone playing a game (or record it in some other way), that film becomes a narrative because it can no longer be changed. But the game itself remains a means of narration.
In short, the reason that the meaning of the term "narrative" is so complicated is because a narrative is only a narrative when it is finished.
You cannot write or create a narrative; you can only read a narrative after it has been written or played through and recorded.
ahh... so confusing, but so beautiful.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
|23/\/\1>< |?|20]3(7 |235|?0|\|53
I really enjoyed Kelly Kreis's remix project entitled "Changes". Not only did she use quotes from one of my favorite mind-screwers - I mean authors -, she also "cut them up" and "pasted" them into scenery in a way that made me reconsider the approach I had taken for my own project.
In her explanation of the project, Kreis echoes something that I came to realize as well while creating my own remix:
"...through the simple act of cutting up a sentence you can [create] new ideas and new phrases, each one dealing with how we change and how we are perceived."
Hiding the phrases in the pictures could help draw more attention to the words. This contradicted my reasoning behind not including pictures with my poems to keep them the center of attention.
It has inspired me to try using some pictures to accent my poems. If I use the right pictures and placement of the poems, I think that it might help to make my own project stronger.
I also thought that the water and the flowers helped strengthen Kreis's presentation. The symbolism emphasized the words as much as the pictures themselves.
In short, she had a lot of awesome ideas that were executed really well.
In her explanation of the project, Kreis echoes something that I came to realize as well while creating my own remix:
"...through the simple act of cutting up a sentence you can [create] new ideas and new phrases, each one dealing with how we change and how we are perceived."
Hiding the phrases in the pictures could help draw more attention to the words. This contradicted my reasoning behind not including pictures with my poems to keep them the center of attention.
It has inspired me to try using some pictures to accent my poems. If I use the right pictures and placement of the poems, I think that it might help to make my own project stronger.
I also thought that the water and the flowers helped strengthen Kreis's presentation. The symbolism emphasized the words as much as the pictures themselves.
In short, she had a lot of awesome ideas that were executed really well.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
\/\/|-|47 4/\/\ 1 601|\|6 70 |)0 |=0|2 /\/\'/ |23/\/\1>< |?|20]3(7 ?
I have a lot of my own loose artwork and creative writing works sitting around unconnected to each other. I would love to find a way to connect them all, so I am definitely going to include as much of my own work as possible in this project.
However, I'd feel like I was cheating if I just used my own work. I could use more practice searching the web for other people's works that I enjoy.
I have been playing with the idea of finding other works that are similar to my own works. This way, I can make two separate remix projects and then splice them together for one ultimate re-mixture.
It would be a pretty awesome way of connecting myself to the rest of the world and immersing myself into this cool new"ish" online culture.
Here is a link to a small taste of my artwork:
http://ziggygoblin.deviantart.com/
They're from a few years ago, and they aren't the greatest examples, but they're something. I also created the two images that I have posted on this blog (the eye and the funky green-blue tornado-like picture) as well as the large picture of myself on the main homepage of my website: http://mason.gmu.edu/~ajone8
All right, and here are some silly little creative writing examples from a class I took in high school. I'm not a big fan of poetry but "sense poems" just brought something out in me:
Auditory
Flip of a Page
Baby thunder rumbling
With soft crinkles.
Finger-printed words
Whispering softly
The next line
Of a story.
Gustatory
Dancing with Peaches
Lips soaked with
Slippery flavor puddles
Of fruity flesh.
Sweet juice pockets
Sliced clean along teeth.
Tongue tripping
Over explosions of flavor.
Olfactory
Bad Breath
Foul rotting pods
Escaping into once clean air,
Infecting the norm,
Invading nostrils,
Testing politeness
Of a passerby.
Visual
Shelter for My Love
Smooth strands
Clinging to my fingers
Curl to thick wisps
Above pink ears.
A reddish gold field
Swaying with my hand,
My fingertips acting
As the wind.
His masculine face
Cradles to my chest in refuge,
As Mother Nature
Runs her fingertips
Harshly over my own body.
Tactile
One Last Hug
My hand held
By your gentle touch,
Fingers intertwining
Brushing each other’s
In a knuckled pattern.
Your eyes
Capture mine.
Soon our cheeks
Rub together softly
In this cold night air.
My tears tickle us both
As I break away.
One last hug…
And then goodbye.
However, I'd feel like I was cheating if I just used my own work. I could use more practice searching the web for other people's works that I enjoy.
I have been playing with the idea of finding other works that are similar to my own works. This way, I can make two separate remix projects and then splice them together for one ultimate re-mixture.
It would be a pretty awesome way of connecting myself to the rest of the world and immersing myself into this cool new"ish" online culture.
Here is a link to a small taste of my artwork:
http://ziggygoblin.deviantart.com/
They're from a few years ago, and they aren't the greatest examples, but they're something. I also created the two images that I have posted on this blog (the eye and the funky green-blue tornado-like picture) as well as the large picture of myself on the main homepage of my website: http://mason.gmu.edu/~ajone8
All right, and here are some silly little creative writing examples from a class I took in high school. I'm not a big fan of poetry but "sense poems" just brought something out in me:
Auditory
Flip of a Page
Baby thunder rumbling
With soft crinkles.
Finger-printed words
Whispering softly
The next line
Of a story.
Gustatory
Dancing with Peaches
Lips soaked with
Slippery flavor puddles
Of fruity flesh.
Sweet juice pockets
Sliced clean along teeth.
Tongue tripping
Over explosions of flavor.
Olfactory
Bad Breath
Foul rotting pods
Escaping into once clean air,
Infecting the norm,
Invading nostrils,
Testing politeness
Of a passerby.
Visual
Shelter for My Love
Smooth strands
Clinging to my fingers
Curl to thick wisps
Above pink ears.
A reddish gold field
Swaying with my hand,
My fingertips acting
As the wind.
His masculine face
Cradles to my chest in refuge,
As Mother Nature
Runs her fingertips
Harshly over my own body.
Tactile
One Last Hug
My hand held
By your gentle touch,
Fingers intertwining
Brushing each other’s
In a knuckled pattern.
Your eyes
Capture mine.
Soon our cheeks
Rub together softly
In this cold night air.
My tears tickle us both
As I break away.
One last hug…
And then goodbye.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
|23\/13\/\/ 0|= "Landscapes"
http://collection.eliterature.org/1/works/marsh__landscapes.html
Plain and Simple: I found this particular piece captivating because of its bright colors.
Is it art or literature?
As a quick disclaimer, I do recognize the fact that there is some overlap between the two categories and that art, literature and everything in between and outside of those circles such as music can be grouped under the category of Fine Arts.
That said, I do not consider "Landscapes" a work of literature so much as a work of art. To me, the difference between Literature and Art is very simple. If you enjoy something because it is clearly beautiful to the senses of touch and sight, then it is a work of art. However, if you enjoy something because of images it provokes you to see in your mind through words written or heard, it is literature.
This is an awesome concept to me because by those definitions, a blind person can only directly enjoy art through touch (and even that depends on whether a person considers touch a genuine determining factor in some art, because if it is not, then it should be a whole different category altogether, like smell.)
Words can, however, be used as art. For example, they may not make sense as words, but they do contribute as patterns to an overall conceptualization of the image an artist is trying to display.
"Landscapes" does use both the medium of art and the medium of literature to display its messages. The artist/writer, Bill Marsh, describes his piece like this: "Landscapes presents five animated canvases which together comprise a dreamscape of anarchic play, urban order, and media saturation. Each landscape pairs a short Biblical proverb with a series of images taken from street protests, multimedia conferences, Hollywood films, and other private and public sites. The proverb in each of the landscapes scrolls on a loop across the screen and is "locked" in position behind a viewing portal. To read the proverb is to make do with the fractured characters visible through small holes in the portal."
Because of the mixed media used throughout this piece, I think that "Landscapes" is an excellent example of the many techniques an individual can use in order to create "Electronic Literature."
Plain and Simple: I found this particular piece captivating because of its bright colors.
Is it art or literature?
As a quick disclaimer, I do recognize the fact that there is some overlap between the two categories and that art, literature and everything in between and outside of those circles such as music can be grouped under the category of Fine Arts.
That said, I do not consider "Landscapes" a work of literature so much as a work of art. To me, the difference between Literature and Art is very simple. If you enjoy something because it is clearly beautiful to the senses of touch and sight, then it is a work of art. However, if you enjoy something because of images it provokes you to see in your mind through words written or heard, it is literature.
This is an awesome concept to me because by those definitions, a blind person can only directly enjoy art through touch (and even that depends on whether a person considers touch a genuine determining factor in some art, because if it is not, then it should be a whole different category altogether, like smell.)
Words can, however, be used as art. For example, they may not make sense as words, but they do contribute as patterns to an overall conceptualization of the image an artist is trying to display.
"Landscapes" does use both the medium of art and the medium of literature to display its messages. The artist/writer, Bill Marsh, describes his piece like this: "Landscapes presents five animated canvases which together comprise a dreamscape of anarchic play, urban order, and media saturation. Each landscape pairs a short Biblical proverb with a series of images taken from street protests, multimedia conferences, Hollywood films, and other private and public sites. The proverb in each of the landscapes scrolls on a loop across the screen and is "locked" in position behind a viewing portal. To read the proverb is to make do with the fractured characters visible through small holes in the portal."
Because of the mixed media used throughout this piece, I think that "Landscapes" is an excellent example of the many techniques an individual can use in order to create "Electronic Literature."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
