a case on generative art: digital poetry

Licia CalviPaul Buchanan

{calvi.l; buchanan.p}@nhtv.nl

A Case on Generative Art: Digital Poetry

CREATE10, Edinburgh, 30 June-2 July 2010

Digital poetry: a challenge

Digital poetry is an umbrella termIts ontological nature is still unclear

blurring of the boundaries between poetry tout court and new media

Digital poetry poses the issue of defining the specific function of both readers and authors

Semiotic process or not?

CREATE10, Edinburgh, 30 June-2 July 2010

Digital poetry: the questions

In how far does digital poetry affect the notion of interactivity?Which approach does it offer to the design of the interaction it implies as well? What do we understand by “design”?

CREATE10, Edinburgh, 30 June-2 July 2010

Digital poetry: the approach

Choragraphyit looks at the poetry work as a whole

“from interface design to interactivity, the written word and code” (Memmott, 2003)

CREATE10, Edinburgh, 30 June-2 July 2010

Digital poetry: the methodology

Analysis of a few digital poemsto draw a common framework for the interpretation and understanding of generative poetryto investigate the amount of experimental composition and the kind of creativity that it allows to authors and the explorative freedom for readers to stretch and explore the limits both in the language and in the tool (i.e., the digital poem).

“Labylogue” (2000)codeworks by Ted Warnell“Concatenation” (2000)

CREATE10, Edinburgh, 30 June-2 July 2010

CREATE10, Edinburgh, 30 June-2 July 2010

CREATE10, Edinburgh, 30 June-2 July 2010

CREATE10, Edinburgh, 30 June-2 July 2010

CREATE10, Edinburgh, 30 June-2 July 2010

CREATE10, Edinburgh, 30 June-2 July 2010

The discussion

Find the missing link which connects code and text, deep and shallow text Find a model that accounts for the generativity and interactivity digital poetry puts on stage

CREATE10, Edinburgh, 30 June-2 July 2010

Choragraphy

AUTHOR READERPOEMDEEP TEXT

SHALLOW TEXT

CREATE10, Edinburgh, 30 June-2 July 2010

Conclusions

Creativity takes place at interface levelwhere the negotiation between author and reader is staged where the deep and the shallow text representing each of them are reconciled

The “choragraphy” of this approach guarantees a holistic understanding of poem creation

CREATE10, Edinburgh, 30 June-2 July 2010

Questions?

THANK YOU!!

calvi.l@nhtv.nlAcademy for Digital Entertainment

NHTV University of BredaThe Netherlands