Hypertext
and Hypermedia Bibliography
Over the
last few years, creative hypertext and text-rich multimedia have
flourished
on the web. Publishers showcase their best authors. Online galleries
create
permanent exhibits. Artistic, innovative journals search assiduously
for
new writers. I list below a personal selection of those texts
and
sites where computer code and the radical imagination meet.
The
annotations represent my opinion of each text or site. You don't have
to
love what I love. And you don't have to hate what I hate. Choose your
own
models. Discover what might be, not what is.
Try
Web-Based
Fiction and Poetry
My
Boyfriend Came Back from the War, Olia Lialina
rice,
Jenny Weight
Dispossession,
Robert Kendall
Penetration,
Robert Kendall
A
Study in Shades, Robert Kendall
A
Study in Conveyance, Robert Kendall
Frame
Work, Robert Kendall
the
personalization of complexity, Marjorie Coverley Luesebrink
The
Body, Shelley Jackson
From
Lexia to Perplexia, Talan Memmott
The
Tomb Robbers, Stuart Moulthrop
Reagan
Library, Stuart Moulthrop
Marble
Springs, Deena Larsen (adapted for the web)
[
carrier ], Melinda Rackham (an interactive meditation)
LOve
One, Judy Malloy
Twelve
Blue, Michael Joyce
Hegirascope,
Stuart Moulthrop
Vispo, Jim
Andrews
"dedicated to life, poetry, & the ABCs of a new art."
Collaborative
hypertexts
Branded
An elegant, unusual, genuinely multimedia work, with
animagiantive
use of sound, by Kate Pullinger with Talan Memott
The
Noon Quilt
A
lovely hypertext, curated at trAce, in which writers all over the world
contributed c. 200 words describing what they could "see" outside their
"window" at noon.
The
Eclipse Quilt
A
reprise of the Noon Quilt idea, this time asking writers to submit
their
meditations on the August, 1999 eclipse.
Kokura,
Mary-Kim Arnold and Matthew Derby
A
two-writer collaboration
Bubbe's
Back Porch
Like
the Noon and Eclipse quilts, a hypertext built from the stories of many
linked, but not seamed, into one. Stories focus on the rites of passage
of family life, the kind of stories we hear as children from parents
and
grandparents.
Critical
Theory
(ranges
from the poetic to the plain pretentious)
A
Definition of Hypertext Kimberly Amaral
A
very clear, concise and thus easy-to-read article offering a brief
history
of hypertext/hypermedia and offering advice to writers in this
environment
Net
Art as Theater of the Senses A HyperTour of Jodi and Grammatron,
Randall
Packer
Anna
Karenin Goes to Paradise, Olia Lialina
Search
engine serendipity
Cyberspace
and Critical Theory
Some
of the articles here, chosen by George Landow, a leading hypertext
writer,
teacher and theorist, are very complex. But you will quickly find
something
tailored to your level of expertise.
Shadow
of an Informand
Stuart
Moulthrop's dynamic essay discusses the potential of hypertext for
readers
and writers.
Politexts,
Hypertexts, and Other Cultural Formations in the Late Age of Print
"I
have twisted the language to contrive the title of this essay because I
want to interrogate the future of literacy both its electronic
formations
(if indeed these differ from its pre-electronic ones) and its social
origins
and effects." Nancy Kaplan. The elegance of the linking architecture in
this piece is enviable.
Miracle
Device: FEED's document on Ted Nelson's Literary Machines
Mark
Amerika, Robert Coover & Janet Murray
apercus,
ironic apercus, & quick-fix, Post-IT note critique
Literary
Hypertext: The Passing of the Golden Age,
Robert
Coover
Grammatron,
Mark Amerika
A
rant, a theory, a definition. Hypertext consciousness with attitude.
Hypertext
Theory Reading List
A list created by Nancy Patterson which selects the seminal articles
and books on hypertext imagining. She include the following online
articles:-
Degrees
of Freedom, Jay Bolter
Toward
a Theory of Hypertextual Design, Kathleen Burnett
Comprehension,
Coherence and Strategies in Hypertext and Linear Text, Peter W.
Foltz
Hypertext
Theory (Links), Nancy Patterson
Communication,
Culture and Technology Thesis List
(Georgetown University) Check regularly (not so much literary hypertext
as the pervasiveness of hyperpresence - politics, commerce, innovation,
interactivity, etc.)
Web
Logs
Weblogs:
a brief history
The
introduction to a small, curated, online exhibit of imaginative web
logs
at the Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art. Particularly appealing
is the log of:
James
Lockett, artist
and his
web site:-
Consumptive
Weblogs
a compendium of articles about, and resources for, web logs
Blogging
from the Barrio, Albert Delgado
Microcontent
News: The Online Magazine for Weblogs, Webzines and Personal Publishing
Journaling
Many
writers now 'journal' online via a web log (see above) but the examples
below illuminate the rhetorical power of the skillful conjunction of
imagination,
design and the word.
nobodyhere
Well, a sort of journal...explore the links, etc.
Moments
A
visually beautiful exploration of the idea that each person's
individual
perception is a priceless addition to human knowledge. Preface by a
quotation
from Blade Runner (investigate). You may also want to explore the other
segments of this site.
lemonyellow.com
Another
inventive journal, this time elevating serendipity into an art form.
Untitled
(really, no consistent title)
Less
weird than the title suggests, and often witty.
Writing
Communities
The
Electronic Literature Organization
trace
My
favorite online community, and NOT just because its non-virtual home is
Nottingham, England. A inviting community, with writing residencies and
mentorships (mostly virtual), a lively set of discussion forums,
invitations
to contribute to special events like the Eclipse Quilt, and live
discussions
on Sunday afternoons. This community was founded to encourage new
hypertext
writers and artists. Visit, register & participate.
the
Fray
"the
Fray brings personal storytelling from behind the glass. If you believe
that life is about personal expression and new kinds of art, you're
invited
to join us." Their blurb, not mine, but it's always an interesting
place
to go (if sometimes sensational). The site invites impromptu responses
and submissions from readers.
Eastgate
Run
by Eastgate Systems, the company that publishes most stand-alone
hypertexts,
this very extensive site acts as information-central for hypertext
writers
and readers. You can buy books here but you can also find reviews of
hypertexts,
articles on hypertext theory and technology, original works, guides to
hypertext on the web and much, much more.
Journals
& Magazines
Riding
the Meridian
Frame:
The Culture and Technology Journal
An
art, theory and culture magazine published by the active, inventive,
international
trace
online community
ebr
(electronic book review)
"promoting
print/screen transformations and weaving new modes of critical writing
on the web"
Word
Circuits
"Art
is the technology of the soul." Investigate further. In any of you are
interested, the editor, Robert Kendall, runs a high-powered,
career-starting
creative hypertext
writing class online via New York's New School.
New
River
An
imaginative journal from a serious writer, like Robert Kendal, of
hypertext
p.r.e.t.e.x.t
Some
poetry, fiction, criticism and art
Art
Galleries & Exhibits
(very
useful sources of inspiration for writers)
Rhizome
The self-proclaimed "New
Media Art
Resource." Worth your time. Includes:
Net
Art News
a daily news service
CODeDOC
New (Sept. 2002) exhibit
which,
"takes a reverse look at 'software art' projects by focusing on and
comparing
the 'back end' of the code that drives the artwork's 'front end'--the
result
of the code, be it visuals or a more abstract communication process,"
which
is linked from:-
Whitney
ARTPORT
The Whitney Museum of
American Art's
portal to NetArt
New Media Collaborations
Mixed text/art work by NYC school students
World of Awe:
A Travellers's Tale (uses sound)
Is it writing or is it art?
Little
Movies: Prolegomena for Digital Cinema
Lev Manovich
Telematic
Connections: The Virtual Embrace
Physical exhibit with
interesting
online presence
010101:
Art in Technological Times
San
Francisco Museum of Modern Art
E-SPACE
San
Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Beyond
Interface
Curated
by s t e v e . d i e t z for The Walker Art Gallery
The
Museum of Web Art
Permanent
and visiting exhibitions, re-framing transience as art
Bitstreams
(The Whitney Museum of American Art)
A
Story of Net Art (Open Source)
The
artist Natalie Bookchin's timeline of Web Art. A multitude of exhibits.
Dia
Center
The
center offers high-quality visual art for the web. The aesthetics vary
from project to project. For example:-
The
Thief
Francis
Alys' textual film meditation on the window: literal, artistic and
visual
Present
David
Claerbout
Between
a Rock and a Hard Drive
Kristin
Lucas
Wake
Gary
Simmons
My
Millenium
Curated
by hypermedia author Christy Sheffield Stanford, this collection
combines
both text and art.
freeform
The
home page of Australian net artist, mez
Turbulence
A
web art gallery, whose purpose is "to facilitate artistic work that
explores
the specific characteristics of the World Wide Web medium and makes use
of multimedia and online technologies such as RealAudio, Java and
VRML."
The
Apartment
Build
an apartment of words in a city of text
Stadium
"the
idea of stadium as an arena for discussing, engaging and presenting the
aesthetic possibilities of the network"
PS1:
Art in Unlikely Places
Read
the introductory essay before beginning the multimedia tour. Download
the
software to see and hear this exhibition. (It's worth it).
rooftops
a project by jody zellen
multiple
views of multiple roofs
artandculture
A
multimedia trove of imaginative interactive. Try the immerse
essay
and do more with your cursor than click.
Unclassifiable
Beauty & Subversive Browsers
The
Visual Thesaurus
Netomat
We
act. Click! We think we browse. View the alternative to the link.
Shredder
As
it says. And the links still work.
WebStalker
Babel
An
artwork that analyzes the internet according to the Dewey Decimal
Classification
scheme used by many print libraries. Read the introduction
by Steve Deitz, Curator of New Media at the Walker Art Center,
Minneapolis.
And the links still work.
©
Lesley Smith
last updated: 8 november 2004