Tim McLaughlin's "Notes Toward Absolute Zero"
Biography of Tim McLaughlin
Adapted from author's websiteTim McLaughlin is a Canadian artist, writer and photographer. He authored numerous works of electronic literature, including Notes Toward Absolute Zero and 25 Ways to Close a Photograph. Currently, he is active in the production of small batches of traditional hand-made inks. He also teaches ink making and researches natural dye use.
In partnership with Charllotte Kwon and Maiwa Handprints, Tim documents artisan communities and advocates for the importance and continuation of traditional craft and culture. This collaboration provides the moment to take both writing and photographic work into new areas and to work on larger projects. Recently, Charllotte and Tim worked together to produce Textiles of the Banjara: Cloth and Culture of a Wandering Tribe, published by Thames and Hudson, 2016.
Over the years Tim has been active in experimental radio, hypertext fiction (he is included in the Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada), graphic design, book production, and documentary film. In his photographic work Tim McLaughlin is drawn to portraiture. In 2014 his book Portraits Found and Taken was awarded silver in the PX3 Paris Photo Prize. Between 2013 and 2015 he ran Image on Paper, a collection of photographic essays and reviews.
Editions and Versions of Notes Toward Absolute Zero
Print Editions
✭ 1993 Edition. Notes toward Absolute Zero. Hypertext Fiction. Unbound Manuscript with cover hand-lettered by author; produced while in Ireland and dated spring 1993
✭ 1994 Edition. Untitled. Note Cards of Hypertext, dated 1993-Early 1994
✭ 2019 Edition. Notes Toward Absolute Zero: A Long Prose Poem. Self-published bound book, dated January 2019
Digital Versions
✭ Version 1.0: Early iterations and drafts of Notes Toward Absolute Zero
1.02 “Magel test v. 1.02.” Summer 1993. Proof of concept, entitled “The Correspondence of Magel Constantine: A Philatelic Novella,” for the research project, "Hypertext Fiction and the Literary Artist,” by Tim McLaughlin, created with Robin Parmar, and Christopher Keep, a project that evolved into “The Electronic Labyrinth” and later the “ELAB;” presented to the Banff Centre for the Arts
1.1a “Magel V1.01.” Corrected proof of “The Correspondence of Magel Constantine: A Philatelic Novella,” December 1993- September 1994. The work states that it is V 1.01 but file is V.1.1
1.1b “Magel 1.1.” Final version of “The Correspondence of Magel Constantine: A Philatelic Novella,” with disk hand-lettered by author in gold ink. December 1993- September 1994
1.2 “Magel 1.2.” Uncompiled version. 1994
✭ Version 2.0: Notes Toward Absolute Zero, produced on 3.5-inch floppy disk for Macintosh and published by Eastgate Systems, Inc. 1995. Jacket design by Eric Cohen
2.1 Created with Storyspace 1.1.2a for Macintosh System Software 7.x
✭ Version 3.0 Notes Toward Absolute Zero, produced on 3.5-inch floppy disk for Windows and published by Eastgate Systems, Inc. 1995
3.1 Created with Storyspace 1.1.2a for Windows 3.1 and later
✭ Version 4: Notes Toward Absolute Zero, produced on CD-ROM for both Macintosh and Windows and published by Eastgate Systems, Inc. 1996
4.1 Created Storyspace 1.1.2a and Storyspace Reader 2.0.3 1996
References
Kendall, Robert. "Parsing the Cold: McLaughlin's Notes Toward Absolute Zero." Word Circuits. Also in SIGWEB Newsletter, Vol. 7, No. 3. Oct. 1998; publication date: Feb. 1999.
