Untrace Title Page
1 2018-11-19T18:46:18-08:00 Savannah Walters a3e04feed2edcb60509ab4c067b335e548b72fb2 32050 2 This is the opening screen of Untrace plain 2018-11-19T18:50:30-08:00 Savannah Walters a3e04feed2edcb60509ab4c067b335e548b72fb2This page is referenced by:
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Traces Left
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Types of Traces
Bourchardon plays with the word “trace” in its noun and verb form; the first leaves a small piece of physical evidence, a clue for instance, and the second means both to unearth and to outline an image. In this work, the word “trace” refers to the five meanings, each correlating to a numbered section of the text:
1. a message left by a stranger
2. memories of the speaker and reader
3. a mark on another person
4. self-expression
5. one’s child
Traces of the Past
Memories, the second form of tracing, make themselves especially pertinent. The past interactions, although an intangible record of existence, remain in their mind as an image/idea of you, as a trace of you. This suggests that your relationships are also traces, so long as the memories are alive. In short, you leave a trace every time you leave a memory in someone else’s mind. In Untrace, the reader only comprehends the artifacts left of the narrator’s past. The reader becomes an investigator of the speaker’s story, putting the pieces together to retrace a cohesive narrative. The bits and pieces from the character’s memory stand as the only basis of information about the speaker. In Memory and Motion, an academic article on digital writing by Maria Angel and Anna Gibbs, states, “…the developments of the human mind and of material culture have co-evolved in a relationship where human knowledge is reliant on forms of externalised memory” (3). This claims our informational knowledge depends on verbally (or artistically) expressed memories. In the case, the narrator expresses their past in visual, verbal, and perhaps audio. making Untrace a fascinating path of narrative breadcrumbs.Definition of Trace
With his manipulation of “trace”, Bouchardon prompts the reader to question its specificities. Can you leave a trace without identifying its owner? In other words, can you leave an untraceable trace? A traces lead you to the thing it embodies. Bourchardon negates the word into the title Untrace. Does this addition of the prefix “un-” refer to untracing as in following the path back to its roots? Or undoing or avoiding any clue received? It could refer to any number of definitions. If I, however, trace my hand on a sheet of paper, it silhouettes the shape of a hand, and the brain fills in the outline with the skin and bone it’s missing. If I trace a drawing, by following its lines I inherently make a copy of the original image. A trace can mean a trackable piece of evidence that leads back to a source or a sprinkle of something, i.e. “Just a little bit”. In fact, all of these definitions of “trace” lead the tracker to whoever left something behind.
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Untrace by Serge Bouchardon
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Explored by Savannah Walters
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A CRITICAL INTRODUCTION
SUMMARY
Untrace is an interactive work of electronic literature, created in 2016 by Serge Bouchardon. It revolves around the idea of leaving a trace, a remnant of yourself by which to be remembered. It is the third and final work in Bouchardon’s trilogy, Hyper-Tensions, and it uses similar visual and audio elements as its two predecessors. The piece begins with two bits of text: a message, and a question. The message is one left by the previous reader, and the current participant does not realize this until later when they are asked to leave a message of their own. The following reader of Untrace will then discover that message on their opening page. The question underneath, inquired by an unknown person, asks, “Did you leave me this message?” The reader then follows the speaker’s thoughts, phrase by phase, viewing the next only by mousing over each. Eventually, the reader is asked to leave a trace, and the screen prompts them with a choice: accept or refuse.COMPONENTS
In this work, Serge Bouchardon structures a clear sequence for the reader to follow. If the reader does not mouse over the phrase in the beginning, for example, they cannot move on the remainder of the work. Once the reader understands what the creator wants them to do, they will continue that action, mousing over in this example, until it doesn’t progress the story anymore. In short, the format and mechanics control the reader’s navigation of the work and shape their experience in processing it. In its design, Untrace exhibits power over the reader; it leaves fragments for the reader to grasp into a narrative and self-reflective experience. By arranging the conversation in this stimulating and interactive format, Untrace leaves the reader feeling powerless, unable to direct their experience. The structure dominates the work, and the only thing you have control over is the trace you leave behind.