projects.

questions to consider:

one.eno

how to interpret automatic text generation with respect to its aesthetic functions, such as relative to the creativity of the author

two.owt

Aristotle said that generally accepted narrative norms have a beginning, middle and end. What happens with a computer-based text?

three.eerht

choice in digital poetry. offered greater freedom in the exercise of reading a book because of the interactive element, but more restricted because choices are tied to previously made choices, and earlier read passages can seldom be read again. in a book you can reread pages, skip pages, read the ending first...this is often not the case in digital texts.

four.ruof

is it the medium or the way we use the medium?

 

possible projects.

1. po(e)bot

create some type of poetry generating robot. this po(e)bot would not be limited to a moving mechanical figure, but could be a computer program that generates poetry using linguistic rules and patterns. it could use pattern recognition software to generate poems in certain styles – for example, it could recognize the style of shakespeare or poe and using linguistic tools and pattern recognition, and then create new poems based on these patterns, making them indistinguishable from the real authors. this sort of research has already been completed for music composition and could find similar application for poetry.

2. cell phone poetry

another possible application of interactive poetry could be conceptualizing a type of poetry for wireless access on hand held devices such as cell phones. perhaps a model would be for a cell phone to monitor a person’s physical activity using accelerometers and cell phone usage, and then to use this feedback information to respond with short poems that could be appropriate to the situation. similarly, poetry that could respond to a person’s schedule could be used to send relevant/uplifting poems before or after taking a big test, in order to form a kind of real-time form of inspiration or positive reinforcement for specific behaviors.

3. installation art

create a kind of installation art which expands on the current definitions of digital poetry. for example, a video to be run on the screen in building 56 from the list visual arts center could be created.

4. website

a website which allows user interaction, either through clicking on things or simply from seeing a combination of words, movement and images on the screen could be a possible model of digital poetry. experiment with the movement of words on the screen, as well as associations that are made by people when reading poetry such as location. for example, an interactive map of a certain city could be created which could be navigated by a user to enhance the poetic experience aesthetically. digital poetry interaction could even be as simple as a “choose your own adventure” model, in which the user would have a direct influence on the poetry that he reads.