- All Keywords
- All Authors
- All Titles
- About
- Main Index
Work that plays by itself, meant to evoke or engage intermittent attention, as a painting or scrolling feed would; in John Cayley's words, "a dynamic linguistic wall-hanging." Such work does not require or particularly invite a focused reading session.
The Dreamlife of Letters, Translation, windsound, wotclock
Kinetic work is composed with moving images and/or text but is rarely an actual animated cartoon.
Birds Singing Other Birds' Songs, Carving in Possibilities, Code Movie 1, Deviant: The Possession of Christian Shaw, The Dreamlife of Letters, Faith, Generative Poetry-Concatenation, Generative Poetry-Semtexts, Jean-Pierre Balpe ou les Lettres Dérangées, Landscapes, Lexia to Perplexia, Nio, On Lionel Kearns, RedRidinghood, The Set of U, Strings, Urbanalities
When the supply text for a piece is not composed by the authors, but rather collected or mined from online or print sources, it is appropriated. The result of appropriation may be a "mashup," a website or other piece of digital media that uses content from more than one source in a new configuration. Appropriation has some relationship to transclusion, a way of including other content (with permission and payment) in Ted Nelson's Xanadu Project hypertext system.
The Dreamlife of Letters, Girls' Day Out, Regime Change, Soliloquy, Star Wars, one letter at a time, Stir Fry Texts, Translation, windsound
Any work with an audio component, including speech, music, or sound effects.
Accounts of the Glass Sky, Birds Singing Other Birds' Songs, The Cape, carrier (becoming symborg), Carving in Possibilities, Code Movie 1, Cruising, Dawn, Deviant: The Possession of Christian Shaw, Dreamaphage (Versions 1 and 2), Faith, Generative Poetry, Inanimate Alice, Episode 1: China, Landscapes, Like Stars in a Clear Night Sky, my body — a Wunderkammer, Nio, On Lionel Kearns, open.ended, Oulipoems, Project for Tachistoscope [Bottomless Pit], RedRidinghood, Rice, The Set of U, Star Wars, one letter at a time, Storyland, Tao, 10:01, Translation, Urbanalities, windsound
One or more of the authors lives permanently outside North America.
Birds Singing Other Birds' Songs, carrier (becoming symborg), Code Movie 1, Dawn, Deviant: The Possession of Christian Shaw, Generative Poetry, ii -- in the white darkness: about [the fragility of] memory, Inanimate Alice, Episode 1: China, Jean-Pierre Balpe ou les Lettres Dérangées, RedRidinghood, Rice, The Set of U, Tao, Translation, Urbanalities, windsound, wotclock,
An immersive, shared virtual reality environment created using goggles and several pairs of projectors, each pair pointing to the wall of a small room. The first CAVE was developed at the University of Illinois at Chicago, which has trademarked the acronym Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE); some similar virtual environments are referred to using the term "cave," not used as an acronym. Works of electronic literature have been made for a cave, most notably at Brown University.
A chatterbot is a computer program designed to simulate a conversation with one or more human users, usually in text. Chatterbots sometimes seem to offer intelligent responses by matching keywords in input, using statistical methods, or building models of conversation topic and emotional state. Early systems such as Eliza and Parry demonstrated that simple programs could be effective in many ways. Chatterbots may also be referred to as talk bots, chat bots, simply "bots," or chatterboxes.
By analogy with print, a work directed to an audience of children.
Inanimate Alice, Episode 1: China
Codework is a type of creative writing which in some way references or incorporates formal computer languages (C++, Perl, etc.) within the text. The text itself is not necessarily code that will compile or run, though some have added that requirement as a form of constraint.
Bad Machine, Code Movie 1, Internet Text, 1994-[Through Feb 2, 2006]
A work created by more than one person.
carrier (becoming symborg), Carving in Possibilities, Chemical Landscapes Digital Tales, Cruising, Dawn, Generative Poetry, I, You, We, ii -- in the white darkness: about [the fragility of] memory, Inanimate Alice, Episode 1: China, The Jew's Daughter, my body — a Wunderkammer, open.ended, Oulipoems, Regime Change, Rice, The Set of U, Stir Fry Texts, Tao, 10:01, Translation, Urbanalities, wotclock
Works where the permutation of possible outputs plays a key role in the composition.
Generative Poetry-Concatenation, Generative Poetry-Semtexts, Girls' Day Out, Nio, On Lionel Kearns, Oulipoems, Reagan Library, Self Portrait(s) [as Other(s)], The Set of U, Stir Fry Texts, Storyland, Stud Poetry
Art in which the concepts or ideas involved are considered the real substance of the work, as opposed to the made art object. Conceptual art may produce a physical manifestation, however. The intangibility of digital creations raises the issue of whether their art is "really" the concept and/or code that creates them, and whether their visual presence online is only some form of documentation. Since the visual dimension of a work can further vary with platform, browser, hardware, etc., these questions become acute around issues of preservation and archiving.
Diagrams Series 6: 6.4 and 6.10, Soliloquy, Star Wars, one letter at a time
Raymond Roussel and the Oulipo wrote literary works according to formal constraints based on literary features, such as homonymic puns. Beyond the fact that code itself is constraint based, much digital work is also based on formal constraints which may be features of visual, linguistic, or software systems. Procedural programming is based on procedure calls allowing for a modular (re-use) structure. This type of structure is also used to design and code works of online literature.
Diagrams Series 6: 6.4 and 6.10, Oulipoems, Translation
By analogy with print, work made with critical, political, or philosophical intent or effect. See "Hacktivist."
carrier (becoming symborg), Generative Poetry-Concatenations, Internet Text, 1994-[Through Feb 2, 2006], Lexia to Perplexia, Regime Change, Self Portrait(s) [as Other(s)]
A database is an organized collection of data. The term originated within the computer industry, but its meaning has been broadened by popular use. Within the digital arts, ways of working with a database are often used metaphorically as ways to structure works. Some works do actually involve large relational databases. Often what would be referred to as an anthology or gathering in print may be thought of as a database online.
By analogy with print or film, a work intending to document a life, career, or historical occurrence.
carrier (becoming symborg), On Lionel Kearns
By analogy with print, a work composed with an intent to be informative, meditative, and/or journalistic.
The Cape, Generative Poetry-Concatenation, Project for Tachistoscope [Bottomless Pit]
By analogy with print, story-like or narrative elements appear in the work.
Accounts of the Glass Sky, All Roads, Bad Machine, Chemical Landscapes Digital Tales, Dreamaphage (Versions 1 and 2), Frequently Asked Questions about "Hypertext", Galatea, Girls' Day Out, Inanimate Alice, Episode 1: China, The Jew's Daughter, Reagan Library, Savoir-Faire, Storyland, 10:01, Twelve Blue, Whom the Telling Changed
A commercial system particularly useful for vector-based animation. It was first developed and sold by Macromedia; that company has been acquired by Adobe, which currently sells Flash.
Accounts of the Glass Sky, Birds Singing Other Birds' Songs, Carving in Possibilities, Chemical Landscapes Digital Tales, Code Movie 1, Cruising, Dawn, Deviant: The Possession of Christian Shaw, Dreamaphage (Versions 1 and 2), The Dreamlife of Letters, Faith, Girls' Day Out, ii -- in the white darkness: about [the fragility of] memory, Inanimate Alice, Episode 1: China, Jean-Pierre Balpe ou les Lettres Dérangées, The Jew’s Daughter, Landscapes, Like Stars in a Clear Night Sky, myBALL, Oulipoems, RedRidinghood, Star Wars, one letter at a time, Strings, Tao, 10:01, Urbanalities
In digital gaming, a game played on a general-purpose computer is often called a computer game, while a game played on a console or arcade machine is often called a video game. The importance of a video display and the visual element of these games is acknowledged in the phrase "video game." The term "computer game" more easily allows for games which display only text or which use other methods, such as sound or vibration, as their primary feedback device. Video games use some sort of input device, usually in the form of button/joystick combinations (on arcade games), a keyboard and mouse/trackball combination (computer games), a controller (console games), or some combination of these. The computer enforces a certain physics of play and provides incentives such as a score or the ability to defeat opponents. In more open-ended games, or play activities (see "Wordtoy"), the player is free to pursue less directed activities in a virtual universe.
All Roads, Bad Machine, carrier (becoming symborg), Jean-Pierre Balpe ou les Lettres Dérangées, Oulipoems, Savoir-Faire, Stud Poetry
Generative art or media are sometimes referred to as the genetic code of artificial objects, working and producing in unique, unrepeatable ways. In experiencing a generative piece, the reader starts the process that results in the output, as opposed to watching a pre-prepared motion picture or selecting one of several pre-written texts to read.
Generative Poetry, Girls' Day Out, Oulipoems, Regime Change, Self Portrait(s) [as Other(s)], The Set of U, Storyland (randomized), Stud Poetry (randomized), Translation (sound), Urbanalities, White-Faced Bromeliads on 20 Hectares
Indicates programming, modifying digital media, exploiting computer systems, and otherwise working with networked computing to further a political goal, by analogy with other sorts of activism. The term is meant to suggest disruptive senses of "hacking" along with activities such as civil disobedience, although particular artists labeled as hacktivists may not engage in illegal activities. Related concepts are "arts activism" and "prankstavism," which refer to works made to further social change.
HyperText Markup Language (HTML) is a format for defining web pages to be displayed in a web browser. HTML is used to structure information - to designate headings, paragraphs, and lists, for instance, as well as hypertextual links - and can be used to describe, to some degree, the appearance and semantics of a document. HTML (and its successor, XHTML) is now an international standard maintained by the World Wide Web Consortium. Dynamic HTML or DHTML is used to refer to interactive web sites that use other technologies in addition to HTML, such as a client-side scripting language (usually JavaScript), and that manipulate pages using Document Object Model and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).
The Cape, Chemical Landscapes Digital Tales, The Fall of the Site of Marsha, Frequently Asked Questions about "Hypertext", Lexia to Perplexia, my body — a Wunderkammer, Soliloquy, Stir Fry Texts, Twelve Blue, White-Faced Bromeliads on 20 Hectares
Hypertext is a user-interface paradigm for displaying documents which, according to an early definition (Ted Nelson, 1970), "branch or perform on request." The most frequently discussed form of hypertext document contains automated cross-references, called hyperlinks, to other documents. Selecting a hyperlink causes the computer to display the linked document within a very short period of time. Hypertext fiction, though not the most prevalent form of e-literature, was the earliest form of e-literature recognized as such.
Frequently Asked Questions about "Hypertext", The Jew's Daughter, my body — a Wunderkammer, Reagan Library, Rice, Twelve Blue
Inform is a programming language and design system for interactive fiction originally created by Graham Nelson in 1993.
All Roads, Galatea, Savoir-Faire, Whom the Telling Changed
A freestanding work in the physical environment, similar to an art installation, that uses programming and/or digital display as critical components of its creation.
Often abbreviated IF, this term describes software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives and as computer games. In common usage, the word refers to what are also called text adventures, a type of adventure game with text-based input and output.
All Roads, Bad Machine, Galatea, Savoir-Faire, Whom the Telling Changed
A software technology from Sun Microsystems that encompasses the Java programming language and the virtual machine on which it runs, which can run inside a web browser. Java programs are cross-platform and come in the form of "applets," if browser-based, or "applications."
A scripting language that has little in common with the similarly-named Java programming language. It runs on the client computer, like Java, but can be embedded throughout web pages. JavaScript is a registered trademark of Sun Microsystems, used under license for technology invented and implemented by Netscape.
The Cape, carrier (becoming symborg), Lexia to Perplexia, RedRidinghood, Stud Poetry, White-Faced Bromeliads on 20 Hectares
Refers to works that make use of locative technologies, such as GPS, Global Positioning System, a satellite navigation system, or RFID, Radio Frequency Identifiers, as part of their process.
By analogy with print, a work drawing on and aiming to convey the experience of an individual person.
carrier (becoming symborg), Dreamaphage (Versions 1 and 2), ii -- in the white darkness: about [the fragility of] memory, my body — a Wunderkammer, On Lionel Kearns, Rice, Soliloquy
A work containing multiple languages or composed in a language other than English.
Birds Singing Other Birds' Songs, Jean-Pierre Balpe ou les Lettres Dérangées, Like Stars in a Clear Night Sky, The Set of U, Translation, White-Faced Bromeliads on 20 Hectares, windsound
A work including music.
Faith, Nio, On Lionel Kearns, The Set of U, Translation, Urbanalities
Many works of e-literature reference, are structured like, or make use of the styles of network forms such as the personal home page, the FAQ or Frequently Asked Questions list, the blog, the listserv, the commercial website, the newsfeed, the wiki, the network, or email.
The Fall of the Site of Marsha (personal homepage), Frequently Asked Questions about "Hypertext" (FAQ), Inanimate Alice, Episode 1: China (blog), Internet Text, 1994-[Through Feb 2, 2006] (listserv), Lexia to Perplexia (network), myBALL (commercial website), Regime Change (news reader), Stir Fry Texts-Log (email)
The work does not require any interaction from the user or reader beyond accessing it, running it, and perhaps exiting the program. See "Ambient."
Code Movie 1, The Dreamlife of Letters, Internet Text, 1994-[Through Feb 2, 2006], Project for Tachistoscope [Bottomless Pit], The Set of U, Star Wars, one letter at a time, Urbanalities, windsound
By analogy with print, work made with satirical or parodic intent or effect.
The Fall of the Site of Marsha, Frequently Asked Questions about "Hypertext", myBALL, RedRidinghood, Regime Change, Self Portrait(s) [as Other(s)]
In performance art, the main work is the action of the artist for some interval of time. There is no art object, although performances can be documented. Much digital writing can be seen to be both performance art, when it consists of a one-time online gathering without residue; and performative, when it reflects - and reflects on - an inherent ephemerality in digitality while in fact leaving a semi-permanent cyber-object in its wake.
Internet Text, 1994-[Through Feb 2, 2006], Regime Change, Soliloquy, Star Wars, one letter at a time
Place is rethought in many ways in digital works. Issues of displacement, diaspora, positioning by satellite, cyberlocation, and re-understood geo-location are raised by the nature of the online network experience. Some of the work dealing with place references the mid-twentieth century Situationist movement.
The Cape, Cruising, Deviant: The Possession of Christian Shaw, Generative Poetry-When You Reach Kyoto, Inanimate Alice, Episode 1: China, Landscapes, Lexia to Perplexia, Oulipoems, Rice, Tao, White-Faced Bromeliads on 20 Hectares
Writing native to the electronic environment is under continual construction (poiesis) by its creators and receivers. Works of electronic literature are "poietic," in this sense, and are often constructed by strategies analogous to those found in experimental print poetry, or cinema, as well as by strategies native to the digital environment.
Cruising, Dawn, Diagrams Series 6: 6.4 and 6.10, Faith, Girls' Day Out, ii - in the white darkness: about [the fragility of] memory, Landscapes, open.ended, Oulipoems, Rice, Stud Poetry, Tao, windsound, wotclock
An open source "programming language and integrated development environment (IDE) built for the electronic arts and visual design communities." Processing aims to teach the basics of computer programming in a visual context. It builds on the graphical side of the Java programming language, simplifying features and creating a few new ones.
A multimedia technology developed by Apple Computer, capable of handling various formats of digital video, sound, text, animation, music, and immersive panoramic images.
On Lionel Kearns, Reagan Library, Translation, windsound, wotclock
A cross-platform development system for interactive digital media developed by Macromedia (now Adobe). Shockwave is often used for online game development. It offers a 3D engine rather than the vector-based, scalable graphics of Flash.
carrier (becoming symborg), Generative Poetry, Nio, On Lionel Kearns, Rice, The Set of U
An implementation of the Smalltalk programming language. Squeak's developers include Alan Kay, who led the group that originally created the Smalltalk programming language in the early 1970s. Squeak is derived from Smalltalk-80. It may be downloaded at no cost and may be freely adapted and distributed.
Diagrams Series 6: 6.4 and 6.10
Storyspace is a hypertext system developed by Jay David Bolter, Michael Joyce, and John B. Smith. Since 1990, the software has been published by Eastgate Systems. Storyspace is a standalone hypertext system. Most fiction published in Storyspace, including classic hypertexts such as afternoon, a story by Michael Joyce, and Patchwork Girl by Shelley Jackson, is published in Storyspace reader (standalone application) versions. Storyspace also has an export to HTML feature, which some authors have used for web hypertext development.
A text that can be longer or shorter on demand, as defined by Ted Nelson. Usually mousing over the text will reveal additional interpolated text. This newly surfaced text, moused over in its turn, reveals yet more stretches of text. The user does not ever leave the current page.
The Jew's Daughter, Regime Change, Stir Fry Texts
Text Adventure Development System (TADS) is a programming system for creating interactive fiction games. The first version was created by Mike Roberts in 1987.
A work written and coded in such a way that it is capable, by analogy with a musical instrument, of playing numerous compositions. The reader is invited to become an expert player of the piece, for skill at manipulating it, above and beyond familiarity with how with its interface works, yields reading and viewing rewards. A closely related idea is that of the instrumental text, where an interface allows manipulations of a particular piece of writing in an interesting way.
Lexia to Perplexia, Nio, On Lionel Kearns, Regime Change, Translation, wotclock
This term is generally used to refer to a long flow of self-performing text, which may be "choreographed" to music or driven by some algorithm, that eschews images or most animation of the text itself. Young Hae-Chang Heavy Industries are noted for making text movies that maintain narrative flow, by contrast with "Ambient" work.
A work, generally on a two-dimensional screen, composed to create three-dimensional effects. Three-dimensional effects, except for artists' or pop-up books, are not widely known in print literature, though they are widely used in sculpture, sound installation, and kinetic art.
Dreamaphage (Versions 1 and 2), I, You, We, open.ended, [theHouse]
Works in which the many possible coded timings of the piece itself are composed or manipulated elements of central interest.
Carving in Possibilites, Chemical Landscapes Digital Tales, Generative Poetry-When You Reach Kyoto, Jean-Pierre Balpe ou les Lettres Dérangées, Project for Tachistoscope [Bottomless Pit], Translation, wotclock
Works in which the process of translation between languages, or between natural languages and code, is referenced, enacted, or otherwise important.
Translation, White-Faced Bromeliads on 20 Hectares
One of a number of themes, like surveillance, arts activism, and identity, with peculiar digital resonance, pointing as they do to network effects or practice. Viral can also refer to work generated by software emulating bio-evolutionary "Darwinian" algorithms.
carrier (becoming symborg), Dreamaphage (Versions 1 and 2)
A poetic or narrative work in which the visual component takes a primary role.
Accounts of the Glass Sky, Chemical Landscapes Digital Tales, Cruising, Dawn, Deviant: The Possession of Christian Shaw, Generative-When You Reach Kyoto, ii - in the white darkness: about [the fragility of] memory, Landscapes, my body — a Wunderkammer, Reagan Library, RedRidinghood, Tao, 10:01, Urbanalities
Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML, pronounced vermal) is a standard file format for representing 3D interactive vector graphics, designed particularly with the web in mind. It is rarely used now but was popular in the late 1990s.
Works with one or more contributions by women.
Accounts of the Glass Sky, Birds Singing Other Birds' Songs, carrier (becoming symborg), The Cape, Carving in Possibilities, Chemical Landscapes Digital Tales, Code Movie 1, Cruising, Deviant: The Possession of Christian Shaw, Galatea, Generative Poetry, Girls' Day Out, ii - in the white darkness: about [the fragility of] memory, Inanimate Alice, Episode 1: China, The Jew's Daughter, my body — a Wunderkammer, open.ended, Oulipoems, RedRidinghood, Rice, Savoir-Faire, Stir Fry Texts-Blue Hyacinth, Storyland, [theHouse], Urbanalities
A term used to describe works in which the user is invited to play with an experimental interface in such a way that new textual creations are manufactured during the interaction. The term may also refer to works that invite playful manipulation more than reading.