Apertures
Spaces Between: Traveling Through Wormholes Inside the Database Novel, sets forth a poetic approach for using the new media landscape. I was inspired while reading it and feel that the information is very useful as a springboard to creating more challenging literary and media experiences. There is something, though, about the passivity required to read a book that, personally, I find very comfortable. I am wondering how much work I am willing to do in the name of imagined narratives using the content from someone else. That being said there is a wealth of possibility in our hands now. With interactive literature I feel there ought to be a way of recording the journey so that whatever narratives the “user” constructs from the elements provided can be viewed in sequence when taking a break from the interactivity to review your experience.
One very interesting thing about the interactive platform is this notion of sharing authorship. Spreading creativity around. A virtual world could be constructed with many interesting scenarios and characters who are “occupied” by the user and through this interaction a fluctuation in algorithmic activity is generated like a domino effect and then a chain of events is triggered to cause a story. I recognize that this is basically the way a video game works but another level is needed to escape the task/reward model which really doesn’t seem overly conducive to poetry. Exploiting the process of cut-ups developed by William S. Burroughs and Brion Gysin could be poetic but that only goes so far before you have to start inventing interesting relationships between the found fragments. I think Mr Klein is right in saying that the scripting of events and “paradoxes” requires careful consideration in order to make it an interesting experience. These “novels” are a collaborative venture and perhaps that makes it necessary to choreograph the result. Somehow the user has to be compelled to be a part of it. Not knowing what you will end up with can trigger curiosity and an urge to want to find out. It seems like the mystery and intrigue genres would be well suited as Klein suggests in mentioning Noir. His use of the aperture as a metaphor for our windows into the virtual literary landscape bespeaks the incredibly powerful impact the mechanics of photography have had on the cultural paradigms of the twentieth century and beyond.
The notion of “gap” he takes up as a kind of wormhole through a database reminds one of Zizek’s theories derived from Lacan where significance is found in the interstices. Cracks in the veneer providing texture and exposing the layers beyond the surface. Digging deep. One sees how character motivation could become infinitely complex and variable. This could be very compelling for the user if handled adroitly.
I am reminded that as a child of the first television generation this layered interface of the developing media landscape is a natural fit for the way we have learned to absorb information and the sheer quantity of it now generated by the internet begs for some type of organizing paradigms: a new type of non-linear narrative. This latest of media revolutions has, thankfully, resulted in the death of the linear paradigm for assigning historical significance to cultural production. There are many routes with many branches leading in all directions and we have to become our own navigators which is something both daunting and inevitable but also makes it a wonderfully challenging and exciting time to be an artist.
I like your idea of “recording the journey.” A dimension unavailable in the traditional narrative, but not uncommon in the world of gaming and interactive media. “Machinima”, in fact, is just that. In his book “Film Live: An Excursion into Machinima” Michael Nitsche states that “Machinima is a production technique that relies on the images created by real-time 3D engines such as computer games to create cinematic pieces of computer animation. During that process the game engine effectively operates like a virtual film studio providing access to virtual lighting, staging, and camerawork. As Machinima describes a technique but not its results the initial definition is somewhat unfinished and possibly misleading. As long as it is produced in a real-time 3D engine the result can be either a live performance, a recorded game session, or post-produced linear video clips – all are accepted forms of Machinima.”
This form of production could easily be compared to the video mash-up, but with one glaring distinction. In the video mash-up the fan assumes the role of editor or re-creator and uses existing fully-edited clips to create his own piece. Although he can add his own music, voice over and sound effects, pre-existing or created specifically for the mash-up, he is limited by the narrative, cinematography, etc. of the source material. In the case of machinima, however, the machinimist, typically a fan of the genre in question, uses the existing framework of the game environment and set of characters, although some games do allow for the creation of new characters, to tell his own story by playing it out in real time through the game interface.
Interesting days ahead…
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