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HAMMERTIME!
I did, in fact, wake up in time to drive across town and get to Westwood for An Evening of Electronic Literature. ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
veek was pretty easy to find, and we talked for a bit before the show started.
It was interesting. Attending with veek made clear how foreign I was to this grouping, most of whom knew and recognized each other and had been talking and eating with each other for the past day and a half, not to mention keeping track of each other's work.
It was an odd night, and the efficacy of readings varied. The most interesting performance was, by far, Caitlin Fisher's reading of her novella These Waves of Girls. The writing was brilliant and, definitely moreso than any of the other works, was enhanced by the author's performance. I love literature, but I'm a Theatre boy at heart, and the ability of the reader not mereley to state the words of a text but to interpret and perform them is extremely important to me. On the other hand, one author, spent most of his time explaining how the project he was reading wasn't really finished and pointing things out to the audience. As veek had said earlier, referring to a different author, he was presenting the paper instead of performing a reading.
One piece by (I think) John Cayley presented something that I don't see as often as I would like in "e-literature," simultaneity. In Theatre, I like the ability to move seamlessly between concurrent events, paying attention to background characters or watching one ring of a three-ring circus. I often don't feel that ability comes across very well (more on that later). In Cayley's offering, three poems of a sequence of Chinese poetry were read over each other. The presentation did not work as well as I would have hoped, but I sense that this is because the navigate was out of my control. I felt that the poems were being rushed through in an effort to showcase more of the work. The interface and the poetry both seemed to encourage a slow relaxed meditation, allowing each poem to loop several times before moving.
After the show, veek and I had a chance to catch up face-to-face, while eating the food our bodies so desperately needed. Veek, as she had warned before, was mostly incoherent, but she still made a fine, fine conversation partner. Probably inspired by the evening, we talked mostly about IF, a topic that isn't usually foremost on our list. She told me a bit about her ELO experience, and I asked her questions for clarification, many of which used vague terms that needed further clarification and backtracking and redefining before she would answer them.
At about 10pm, we were informed that the gathering was being kicked out of the Hammer, and the organizers decided to relocated to the Doubletree down the street. After making sure that I would still be able to get into the parking garage to get my car, I accompanied veek down to the hotel.
Once at the hotel, it became clear that I would have to head back to reach my car in time to purchase a lunch before going to work. Veek and I parted company, with promises of breakfast/dinners (it would always be one of the two for one of us) in the coming week. I walked back to the Hammer, and discovered that there was no way to get back into the parking garage. Yay lying/incompetent guards! I spent some time trying to figure out where there might be an ingress, until I realized I could sneak in when an exiting car (driven by someone who apparently knew where such an ingress was) caused the gate to rise. I managed to get into my car and drive downtown, realizing along the way that my garage adventure had eaten up the time I had intended to get a sandwich.
I arrived at work on time, and there was a bit of pizza left from an earlier feast, which pieces I commandeered and saved for lunch. So all was good.
I was going to talk here about Why I Don't Like E-Literature but Do Like IF, but I realize that this entry is already pretty long, so I'll stop here and continue in another entry.
Except that I won't stop, because there's one other thing I wanted to add, not related to this kind of theory/fictiony stuff. There was a woman at the reading and reception who had the most incredibly beautiful face I had ever seen. I do not know how to describe it, which is in large part why I find it so beautiful. I have always found faces to be mostly generic, even beyond standard inventory of two eyes, one nose, one mouth, etc. I often see faces as relating to each other, and can be bugged for days by seeing someone who reminds me of someone else and then not being able to recall the name of the person that I am reminded of. Well, this woman had the most original face I had ever seen. In profile and head on, it was as if I was seeing a face for the first time, without the baggage of my mental gallery of mugshots. I tried to watch as long as I could without seeming like a creepy stalker (a very fine line). Her face was new and perfect and seemed to be crying out "Yes! there is a Divine Creator, and Yes! he is still turning out new and innovative work!" And to top it off, she had a nose piercing. Way cool.
I pointed this face and the woman to whom it belonged to veek, who recognized both it and her. Veek told me that this woman was actually very self-conscious about her appearance, especially her face. This has filled with sadness ever since hearing it.
veek was pretty easy to find, and we talked for a bit before the show started.It was interesting. Attending with veek made clear how foreign I was to this grouping, most of whom knew and recognized each other and had been talking and eating with each other for the past day and a half, not to mention keeping track of each other's work.
It was an odd night, and the efficacy of readings varied. The most interesting performance was, by far, Caitlin Fisher's reading of her novella These Waves of Girls. The writing was brilliant and, definitely moreso than any of the other works, was enhanced by the author's performance. I love literature, but I'm a Theatre boy at heart, and the ability of the reader not mereley to state the words of a text but to interpret and perform them is extremely important to me. On the other hand, one author, spent most of his time explaining how the project he was reading wasn't really finished and pointing things out to the audience. As veek had said earlier, referring to a different author, he was presenting the paper instead of performing a reading.
One piece by (I think) John Cayley presented something that I don't see as often as I would like in "e-literature," simultaneity. In Theatre, I like the ability to move seamlessly between concurrent events, paying attention to background characters or watching one ring of a three-ring circus. I often don't feel that ability comes across very well (more on that later). In Cayley's offering, three poems of a sequence of Chinese poetry were read over each other. The presentation did not work as well as I would have hoped, but I sense that this is because the navigate was out of my control. I felt that the poems were being rushed through in an effort to showcase more of the work. The interface and the poetry both seemed to encourage a slow relaxed meditation, allowing each poem to loop several times before moving.
After the show, veek and I had a chance to catch up face-to-face, while eating the food our bodies so desperately needed. Veek, as she had warned before, was mostly incoherent, but she still made a fine, fine conversation partner. Probably inspired by the evening, we talked mostly about IF, a topic that isn't usually foremost on our list. She told me a bit about her ELO experience, and I asked her questions for clarification, many of which used vague terms that needed further clarification and backtracking and redefining before she would answer them.
At about 10pm, we were informed that the gathering was being kicked out of the Hammer, and the organizers decided to relocated to the Doubletree down the street. After making sure that I would still be able to get into the parking garage to get my car, I accompanied veek down to the hotel.
Once at the hotel, it became clear that I would have to head back to reach my car in time to purchase a lunch before going to work. Veek and I parted company, with promises of breakfast/dinners (it would always be one of the two for one of us) in the coming week. I walked back to the Hammer, and discovered that there was no way to get back into the parking garage. Yay lying/incompetent guards! I spent some time trying to figure out where there might be an ingress, until I realized I could sneak in when an exiting car (driven by someone who apparently knew where such an ingress was) caused the gate to rise. I managed to get into my car and drive downtown, realizing along the way that my garage adventure had eaten up the time I had intended to get a sandwich.
I arrived at work on time, and there was a bit of pizza left from an earlier feast, which pieces I commandeered and saved for lunch. So all was good.
I was going to talk here about Why I Don't Like E-Literature but Do Like IF, but I realize that this entry is already pretty long, so I'll stop here and continue in another entry.
Except that I won't stop, because there's one other thing I wanted to add, not related to this kind of theory/fictiony stuff. There was a woman at the reading and reception who had the most incredibly beautiful face I had ever seen. I do not know how to describe it, which is in large part why I find it so beautiful. I have always found faces to be mostly generic, even beyond standard inventory of two eyes, one nose, one mouth, etc. I often see faces as relating to each other, and can be bugged for days by seeing someone who reminds me of someone else and then not being able to recall the name of the person that I am reminded of. Well, this woman had the most original face I had ever seen. In profile and head on, it was as if I was seeing a face for the first time, without the baggage of my mental gallery of mugshots. I tried to watch as long as I could without seeming like a creepy stalker (a very fine line). Her face was new and perfect and seemed to be crying out "Yes! there is a Divine Creator, and Yes! he is still turning out new and innovative work!" And to top it off, she had a nose piercing. Way cool.
I pointed this face and the woman to whom it belonged to veek, who recognized both it and her. Veek told me that this woman was actually very self-conscious about her appearance, especially her face. This has filled with sadness ever since hearing it.