#bibliocircuitry

[codexposition]

Bibliocircuitry

The article “Bibliocircuitry and the Design of the Alien Everday” illustrated many different instances of a non-traditional way to create a book. The story of “The Hollow” helps to emphasize this non-traditional style, with aspects of the story being hidden until the reader makes certain choices to change the physical parameters of the book itself. This potential to force the reader to involve themselves in the actual storytelling process, or risk losing information that could be considered valuable to the story, is not only immersive but extremely interesting in its potential. I hope to employ some similar immersive technique in the writing of my story where part of the poem might be left to the reader to develop through the use of the images that I leave within my book. Even other projects that did not seem to be directly applicable in format to my book were interesting in their ability to subvert the traditional expectation of a book. Both the Khubla Khan piece and the House of Her utilize different technologies to distort/ expand the information that the original book created. I would hope to utilize the manner in which information is changed through the aid of technology, in the case of my book this would be photography. These pieces were effective in allowing me to expand my definition of what a book really is, and how the writer of these books can manipulate the information from their book to change the readers’ experiences reading. 

Quotes that stood out to me:

“ In the case of “The Hollow”, it’s tempting to say that such access is necessary. The abbreviated version is drastically different from the full text, and from my perspective, the exterior narrative seems a thinner, less compelling story than the full narrative contained within the enclosed pages. Through the manipulation of form, one text is made into two almost entirely different stories.”

“ By deconstructing a text’s fundamental framework of meaning, however, one can begin both to deform and perform a work as a text that is alive and mutable, rather than a static work with a fixed arrangement.”

Discussion Questions:

Is it ok to withhold information from the reader (”The Hollow”)? Is it ok to have a different experience for each reader of a piece?

Does every book need to adhere to the five observable characteristics of a traditional book (the image above)?

-SP

[codexposition]

Bibliocircuitry

When first reading this article, I wasn’t sure how relevant it would be to my final book project, mostly because I didn’t feel I had a creative enough idea for it to be discussed in the article. As I continued, I was intrigued by the different combinations of media/technology with text to create what one might not think of as books right off the bat. To see how a book can utilize circuitry and sound to create a work of literature really helped inspire me in my final book making process honestly. It’s so easy to get caught up in the ordinary definitions of project or piece of work and forget how quickly and simply innovation can transform the norm into something new. While reading I would say my favorite section was the part about the project using the The Fall of the House of Usher. Not only was it generated from one of my favorite poets, Poe, but it was born of the question “How would classic text translate using social media as a template?” (Hancock and Skutlin, p. 22). Their entire project felt extremely relevant to my own and gave me many questions to ask myself while I complete my final book. It was a great reminder of the unpredictability that occurs when you allow yourself to question the constraints of the norm that you may have in your mind. Below I have included another quote and the screenshot of the most important part I found in this reading, but I question, what preconceived ideas of literature do we have that stops us from creating something new? I also find myself wondering, when are books books, and when (when they combine with other mediums) do they become something more (should they be considered something outside of books or can they stretch the definition of book itself)?

“Each project shows reflec-tive  design  at  work,  reminding  us  that  prevailing  notions  of  “bookness”  aren’t hard-coded into reality, but are instead susceptible to change.”

“the critical and interpre-tive  question  is  not  ‘what  does  the  poem  mean?’  but  ‘how  do  we  release  or  expose  the  poem’s  possibilities  of  meaning?’” 

-EL

[codexposition]

This article helps to portray a deeper understanding of the true meaning of codex.  When I started this course if someone asked me to describe a book I would explain it as collection of thoughts printed on paper that are bound in the middle.  The standard thought of a modern book.  Throughout the class I have learned that there is infinite amounts of ways to create a “book”.  One of the most interesting alternatives to a book we discussed in class were digital interactive books.  In the article Alyson Fielding writes on her thoughts about the topic while creating her own hybrid interactive book project.  She says, “a digital book shouldn’t mean we need to let go of the emotional connection to a physical object, and combining books with technology doesn’t have to mean a device with a screen”.   She believes that this approach allows for the reader to create their own understanding of the text by promoting interactivity.  

Quotes:  

“In fact, the embedding of the Arduinos and associated LEDs created a three-way conversation of their own among the art, the language, and the technology.”  (pg. 18)

“We can make explicit various extralinguistic aspects inherent in reading and socially acting upon a given text.” (pg.22)

“The power of reflective design, as we see it, is that it allows us to carve the book at its joints: to identify, rear-range, mutate, augment, and deform its component parts in order to create a new vision of what a book might be.”  (pg. 26)  

Questions:  

Do you believe that the use of technology in the codex helps to helps to further our relationship with books?  

Do you think that the use of other senses, such as touch or sounds, help the reader to understand the text better?

-JB

[codexposition]

Bibliocircuitry

The ideas contained within the reading were very thought provoking. This semester we have been questioning what a book is or what it can be, but we have only scratched the surface on form and function. As I am writing this I am still digesting what I read and trying to find a center on my now shaken foundation on my understanding of the codex as a form. Some of the things that really struck me were the ways to play with text and limitation of information. The section “The Hollow”: Form That Foils Content raised the question, for me at least, what does it mean to tell a story? The project by the author involved one story told in multiple portions restricted by form and it was up to the reader to determine how satisfied they were with the story they were given. The idea of possibly destroying parts of the story to dig in and discover what was really happening was very thought provoking and immediately got my wheels turning. I don’t know if I will get that complex with my final project, but I have changed the idea of my form to include the possibility for misreads and deception, making it up to the reader to find what is really going on.

Some quotes I found interesting were:

“Fluency, in contrast to literacy, affords creativity.”

“Denying or frustrating access to the text in the conventional way (turning consecutive pages to advance the narrative) defamiliarizes the experience of reading, to the point that the reader becomes aware of the book as an object again, rather than as a mere container for text.”

“Reading, in other words, is a practice situated in larger medial and physical contexts that can be purposefully altered to create more affective experiences.”

“Combining books with technology doesn’t have to mean a device with a screen.”

Based on my quotes, these are my questions:

What do you when you are getting to read, as in what is your pre-read ritual?

What is your most interesting reading experience, digital or otherwise?

-Stephen

[codexposition]

- HC

[codexposition]

After reading “Bibliocircuitry and the design of the Alien Everyday” article, it made me appreciate, and understand the impacts of unique literary designs outside the norms. Technology has been growing exponentially as time progresses, causing typical forms of everyday media to adapt to it. Bibliocircuitry, and the idea of reflective design, discusses the notion that technology, design, and critical thinking, is the driving force in the modernization of literary text. One of the examples the article highlights early on is Twitter and its conceptual constraint of posting content that is 140 (now 280!) characters or less. It is a modern form of reading in a new, more digestible and creatively challenging way. Bibliocircuitry has been used over the years to elevate and completely change how stories are told in this day and age. Many authors try to change how stories are told with unique designs, and the example of the article used, “The Hollow,” the student tries to do just that. She uses a short story she wrote and decided to fold the story so that the different “exterior edges of the finished book are uncut bolts.” In the picture that I attached, she describes how her story explains the process of how someone “finds themselves’ in a forest. The folds that are hidden away from the reader explains how the story came to be and adds more detail into the character’s story. It is a unique way of explaining a narrative to those who might take it in in a short or long way. In terms of my final book project, I believe that consolidating my story into 5 postcard letters and dividing them in their own envelopes. This approach to reflective designs allows the reader to be more interactive, thus becoming more engaged with the art and the story being told. Not only is this a unique approach to telling a story, it becomes a way to have the reader become more engaged and excited to read the story presented. That is the main concept of this article and the example of the students provided.

Quotes that stood out to me: 

“Reflective design complements the recent emphasis on critical making in the digital humanities: the embodying of ideas or arguments in things.” 

“Fluency, in contrast to literacy, affords creativity. If I am literate in a language, I can read, write, and speak it, but if I am fluent in a language I can write poetry or a novel or use the language in ways the literate cannot. Technological fluency is the ability to be creative with technology.” 

Discussion Questions: 

- Can incredibly altering a book physically to be approached differently by readers result in more engagement to the story/content? 

- Looking at “the Hollow” project made by a student, for example, can interactive stories created with reflective design in mind change the perception of books in the modern age?  

-Andres C. 

[codexposition]

“Bibliocircuitry and the Design of the Alien Everyday” reading helps me to understand my final book project, because it gives me comfort knowing that I wouldn’t have thought of any of the ideas in the paper. That sounds odd, but knowing that their ideas are totally different than mine and unique in their own way reminds me that I don’t need to look for any validation in forms of media that we’ve already studied this semester. Having such an open-ended assignment can stress me out thinking I may not be hitting the mark, but I can take comfort in the fact that everyone’s mind is going to come up with some cool idea for this project and I can only learn more from everyone else’s submission. All of the ideas in the paper were really interesting in their own way. I really like the first student’s idea of “pushing the buttons” of the reader. Testing their boundaries of frustration so to speak. It makes me wonder what I would do as the reader. Knowing myself, I think I would leave it on a shelf somewhere to preserve it and always wonder what the deeper story was. Maybe one day cutting it open, only to regret its destruction. I never thought about how typical books also only show you a limited number of pages at any given time, but its not stifling because as the reader you’re in full control of if you want to spoil the ending by flipping ahead or not. Most people chose not too without a second thought, but the second the ease of choice is taken away it feels like a trap. As the consumer, you’re willing yourself to be placed into a world of the authors creation. We can always pretend like we have the power, for example by putting the book down you take yourself out of the story, but in the end regardless of the form of the book, alternative or not, we are fitting ourselves into the book not the other way around.

 Notable quotes:

“Though the abbreviated version may seem to depreciate the story, the interplay between these two different versions may ultimately enrich the reader’s experience of the work.” (p. 12)

“One must look at the finished product as a whole, understand it as a cyborg, yet also yield to its effects. The reader can pull back the curtain to see how the book is made, but also decline to do so.” (p. 17)

“a digital book shouldn’t mean we need to let go of the emotional connection to a physical object, and combining books with technology doesn’t have to mean a device with a screen” (p. 22)

 Discussion questions:

What would you do if you had “The Hollow” in front of you? Cut it open or not? Why?

In the paper they say “sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” For example apple products have a reputation for being somewhat above the consumer. Only being able to be fixed by experts. It removes the traditional tendency to repair before replacing. How does this hurt or change your view of technology and your role in it?

-Kelly

[makeademia]

[BLOG POST] Bibliocircuitry and the Design of the Alien Everyday

(250+ words) Bibliocircuitry and the Design of the Alien Everyday by Charity Hancock, Clifford Hichar, Carlea Holl-Jensen, Kari Kraus, Cameron Mozafari, and Kathryn Skutlin

-EB