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• 1 2021-06-17T15:49:26-07:00 Social Media Content for Kathy Mac's "Unnatural Habitats" 20 Audience participation via Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube Chat plain 2021-08-22T15:51:54-07:00

  Twitter 

  The following are postings on Twitter that promoted the live Traversal of Kathy Mac's Unnatural Habitats prior to the event and thanked the participants after the event. Also included is a transcript of the YouTube Live chat from during the Traversal.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  YouTube Live Chat 

  Because Traversals are all streamed live via YouTube, the lab takes advantage of the chat feature offered by the network to provide a forum for the audience to make comments and ask questions. The chat is then saved and added to this book as part of the Traversal archive. The Traversal can be watched on YouTube here.
  
  
  
  Holly June
  Hello everyone!
  
  Andrew Klein
  Hi!
  
  Denise McClure
  Hello!
  
  Kathleen Zoller
  Hello!
  
  Louise Chase
  Hello ... is anyone else having difficulty hearing (my laptop is set at maximum volume but I'm straining to hear ... so am wondering...)?
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  Hi folks
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  thanks for coming
  
  Andrew Klein
  Sound is fine on my end
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  Louise, check the sound on Youtube to see if it is also turned up
  
  Louise Chase
  yes, i have thanks ... going to try another computer ..
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  Here is the link to the ELD and the short essay Asrid just published this morning for us: https://directory.eliterature.org/ind...
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  You saw the loading screen for the work. This is a small work in comparison of some of the others we have Traversed this year.
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  This is the TOC for the work you are looking at.
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  The work is divided into three sections
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  There is a lag due to the remote aspect of our presentation
  
  Kathleen Zoller
  I like how certain paragraphs are separated and offset in chunks. It reminds me of launching a rocket, and seeing the pieces fall away as it goes
  
  Kathleen Zoller
  The map also appears to be well-organized
  
  Kathleen Zoller
  Does .ssp stand for "storyspace project"?
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  i just gave you an impromptu tour of the maps
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  yes
  
  Kathleen Zoller
  Thank you!
  
  Astrid Ensslin
  Kathleen, yes, the visual aspect is key.
  
  Astrid Ensslin
  Flicking through the lexias it even becomes a kinetic poem.
  
  Kathleen Zoller
  Agreed Astrid, the text also feels like it is floating in outer space
  
  Astrid Ensslin
  Keep that idea in mind as we go through this Traversal.
  
  Kathleen Zoller
  Will do!
  
  Astrid Ensslin
  that's my favorite part of the cycle.
  
  Astrid Ensslin
  It sums up so much of human experience.
  
  Astrid Ensslin
  Tapering off ... to the period of annihilation
  
  Andrew Klein
  capsule-shape is almost space-invader-esque here -- the shape was instantly evocative of space-craft descending!
  
  Astrid Ensslin
  Love the simile, Andrew.
  
  Kathleen Zoller
  Pioneers are the people who go to space, go below sea, travel underground, and explore this new (at the time) digital realm of hypertext
  
  Astrid Ensslin
  Yes, they leave their "natural" comfort zones.
  
  Astrid Ensslin
  patchwork girl, anyone?
  
  Kathleen Zoller
  quilting does seem to be a popular analogy for hypertext!
  
  Astrid Ensslin
  Marie-Laure Ryan collected all the different metaphors for hypertext, and the quilt was one of them.
  
  Richard Snyder
  Where can I see that, Astrid?
  
  Astrid Ensslin
  Narrative as Virtual Reality, I think
  
  Richard Snyder
  Thanks!
  
  Andrew Klein
  cool experiment nonetheless!
  
  A.X. Roads
  I haven't been around for the other traversals so this point may have been brought up already, but it's so interesting to see how this structure lives on in digital zines like you'd find on itchio
  
  Astrid Ensslin
  Do you mean Twine games?
  
  Astrid Ensslin
  Kathy was doing elit of/on elit [smiling face emoji]
  
  A.X. Roads
  I'm actually not sure if what I'm thinking of was specifically made with Twine but yes
  
  Richard Snyder
  I'm not sure it's intentional, but the visual impression of the arrows here put me in mind of NASA diagrams calculating something like reentry angles, etc. [smiling face emoji]
  
  Richard Snyder
  Completely intentional! [smiling face emoji]
  
  Andrew Klein
  I've only seen a few Traversals but Kathy's really does feel very self-aware of its concrete dimensions (that is, re: layout of even the lexias).
  
  Andrew Klein
  I think it shows the need for Hayles's Media-Specific Analysis when we approach these pieces with students especially
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  Yes, we noticed this ourselves during the rehearsal on Monday, Andrew
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  She also experiments with animating text across screens
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  We saw this same effect in Michael Joyce's afternoon, a story
  
  Richard Snyder
  Kathy, thank you for presenting today. Were you influenced in your design for the lexia by any specific examples of concrete poetry or perhaps artist's books?
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  What gets me excited about this work is that way artists push boundaries, as Astrid just said
  
  Andrew Klein
  my question, as well, Richard!
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  Good question
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  Textile work is very influential with hypertext
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  So many artists, as Kathleen pointed out earlier, used metaphors of quilting, stitching, sewing
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  Patchwork Girl encapsulates this idea in the title alone
  
  Richard Snyder
  What a great answer, thank you! I love that you took this textile metaphor approach to electronic media.
  
  Richard Snyder
  Also reminds me of Knit++ in Turbulence, by xurban collective.
  
  Sarah Xerar Murphy
  You can feel the physical threads there Kath... But also has the sense of the tragic absence of actual texture...
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  Yes, Richard
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  The notion of natural has been destabilized. Humans fly liked bird; dolphins paint like humans
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  birds, that is
  
  Andrew Klein
  Kathy, did you have plans for this project before you encountered Storyspace? Or did exploring Storyspace move you to this project?
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  I love that question
  
  Andrew Klein
  Followup: would you/did you conceive of a non-hypertext version?
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  I want so badly to teach a course in the linguistically and structural aesthetics of hypertext poetry
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  D is a dental which punctuates the line
  
  Astrid Ensslin
  As with Lust? That's a great work to teach for linguistic structure, Dene.
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  Oh yes, Astrid. on that list
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  The S sound can be soothing or hissing
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  The Sibilant is one of my favorite sounds
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  Sound carries meaning
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  Aporia means gaps
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  gap
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  singular
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  Espen Aarseth talks about this feature in his book Cybertext
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  He suggests that aporia leads to epiphany
  
  Sarah Xerar Murphy
  Does sound reconstruct physicality in a digital world?
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  Sonic imagery is all about that, Sarah
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  Imagery is the poet's way of instantiating ideas
  
  Sarah Xerar Murphy
  Also hearing it yourself...
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  What I love about sound is that it is only sensory modality hard-wired in our brain
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  It is powerful for that reaosn
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  reason
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  The wonderful structure and linking apparatus of that structure would be lost if it were turned into print
  
  Sarah Xerar Murphy
  Perhaps re-embodying the self would be a better way of thinking about it....
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  Next Friday we will host a launch party for the release of the archival version of Richard Holeton's Figurski on Findhorn on Acid
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  If you wish to join us, contact me directly at dgrigar@wsu.edu
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  I'll send you a Zoom link
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  The lab migrated the work from Storyspace to open web lanagues
  
  Electronic Literature Lab
  languages
  
  Denise McClure
  Thank you for this.
  
  Louise Chase
  Wonderful ... thank you all!
  
  Astrid Ensslin
  Thanks to everyone in the audience for joining us today.
  
  Sarah Xerar Murphy
  Great! Thank you!
  
  Kathleen Zoller
  Thank you so much! Such a wonderful traversal