(At Least) Three Perspectives on Depth and Contour
interactive audio digital literature work, Erasmus Intensive Programme in Digital Literature, Madrid
Leona was one of thirty MA and PhD students from different nationalities, diverse backgrounds and training, and with multiple levels of experience chosen to take part in the Programme and work in a European context at Complutense University, Madrid, Spain.
As well as seminars and lectures, small groups were formed to work on digital projects, Leona joining with Robert Kalman, a PhD student from the University of Siegen, Germany. Their working partnership formed after lively conversations on the possibilities of audio literature compared with the potential of print. They also discussed sound engineering in depth, both agreeing that it is a necessary discipline to achieve convincing results in 'writing' and 'wreading' sonic literature.
As well as seminars and lectures, small groups were formed to work on digital projects, Leona joining with Robert Kalman, a PhD student from the University of Siegen, Germany. Their working partnership formed after lively conversations on the possibilities of audio literature compared with the potential of print. They also discussed sound engineering in depth, both agreeing that it is a necessary discipline to achieve convincing results in 'writing' and 'wreading' sonic literature.
But the most intriguing discourse emerged around the concepts of 'depth' and 'contour', brought up in a lecture referencing Contours of Constructive Hypertexts (Berstein, Joyce & Levine, 1992). From this point it seemed obvious to them that their combined efforts had to deal with the concepts of depth and contour in a hypertextual sound installation, and that a combination their artistic and scientific interests had to leave the realm of the traditional mouse-keyboard-screen trinity.
They decided to attempt a hypertextual environment in which at least four levels of spoken text or other sounds could be audibly de- and/or re-constructed simultaneously by interacting with a 4x4 touchpad device. In order to experiment they chose primary text (extracts from the above mentioned essay), secondary text (Robert's response to the essay), tertiary text (Leona's response to Madrid), and a layer of sound (Leona's field recordings of Plaza del Sol, Madrid). The wreader could then play the sequence as it was inputted, or choose different permutations. |
voices heard are those of Leona, Robert, and Rui Torres, poet and professor of computing at Porto University, Portugal