Okay, so what’s cool about this is that in the beginning of the semester, when we had to browse the volumes and choose a piece to discuss with the class, I actually played around with this one for awhile. Of course, it’s been about two months, so I do not remember all of the intricacies of this piece, though I do remember a feeling of annoyance. Though, I think that it is only natural to feel that way when working on a blackout piece, or a cento, or any sort of form that forces the writer to deal with only a certain group of words. But, when you finally make it work, and what you are left with, or what you pasted together, all makes sense, it is quite rewarding.
Here, you will find what I created as my thesis. I liked it for the most part. It’s weird when you make something from something you otherwise would not have made. What I mean is, I’m not sure I would ever come close to recreating such a piece with these words, this spacing, this tone. It really is quite an odd feeling.
Now, onto the annoyance. The bot created a very short poem which exudes a certain elegance I can’t quite place. I am unsure if this “elegance” is really just dissonance, but I appreciate it nonetheless. Don’t get me wrong, I am entirely against any sort of AI creating poetry. But, this is also weird. It oddly makes me wish I made this version instead. I don’t know what that’s about, because I am a successful poet. I’m not really sure what to make of it.
Yes, more annoyance. Co-creating with the AI was annoying. One, because I don’t know this AI. Two, because it picked its selections awfully fast. How can one just pick by means of an algorithm, rather than true consideration. It was quite off-putting. Plus, it picked weird stuff that didn’t take into account the rest of the words left. For example, it kept picking the preposition “in”, which was very hard to connect with other words as we went further down the given text. Relinquishing the control in this way, in the name of coherence, was difficult because what is a poem if you cannot understand it enough to feel something upon reading it?
My symbiosis was whatever. I’m not putting it here because I actually ignored the AI. At this point, I thought, “who cares what it wants me to do, especially when it picks nonsense?” So yes, I think the AI points me in the direction of nonsense, for some reason. I think it has it out for me.
Yes, it is just making nonsense. Here, I would like to discuss aesthetics. As many of you may know, I am quite versed in concrete poetry. With that, I deeply understand the purpose behind making shapes with my words to convey meaning. What annoyed me in the last section was the idea of the wave, which most likely will amount to no sense in the name of shapes. All I have to say is, if you want the words to represent something other than the meaning of the word itself, there must be more consideration of such symbolism.
After looking at the documentation video provided on the website, I can see the augmented reality really come to life. I have zero prior experience with AR, so it was cool to see what exactly is being augmented. Seeing the pages transform with a new texture layers on different meaning and experience. What I really enjoy about this piece, too, is that you have both versions in front of you. So, one cannot work without the other. Instead of translating a physical piece into an electronic state, which may lose, like working with two languages, the essence of the original, the reader can navigate both simultaneously. Overall, this seems to be a really awesome piece that blends together the analog with the technological in a way that complements both mediums.
