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One of the most interesting aspects of hypermedia
fiction and poetry is the indetermination of boundary,
edge, and border. If we could locate the nexus
of the identifying feature, the element that separates
print text from hypertext and hypermedia, it might
be found in the instances when the "other"
media begins to assume full responsibility for the
manifestation of the art itself. That is,
music is no longer background sound, graphics are
no longer corollary illustration - each aspect of
the media blend is essential to the entire experience.
One way to approach this phenomenon is to look at
works that are on the very margin, so to speak.
The Blue Moon Review Hypermedia selections
for Fall, 2002, do just that.
Poems
from Web, Warp, and Weft
Sometimes it is the visual feature of
a piece that begins to morph into true hypermedia.
Such is the case with the selections from Jeremy
Duffield and Helen Whitehead, part of the web
work "Web Warp & Weft," a project to
study the textile industry in Nottingham, UK.
Jeremy's poems, text, and photos, combined with
illustrations of textile processing techniques
and Helen's design, become a kind of hypermedia
reading experience.
Bites
and Bams Another "edge effect"
occurs when the text begins to assume the function
of graphic. Christopher Mulrooney's poetry
cycle, "Bites and Bams," is an example
of this phenomenon.
Plush
Finally, the very subject matter and tone of hypermedia
is still experimental. Because the WWW is
such a public medium, some pieces have a jagged
intimacy that nudges the envelope of expectations.
Jason Nelson gives us such a work with "Plush."
-ML.
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Contributors'
Notes:
Jeremy
Duffield
was born in Derbyshire where he still lives.
After a career in the textile industry, specializing
in the dyeing and finishing of cotton and man-made
fabrics, he now works part-time for a veterinary
surgeon. He has been writing poetry for many years
and his publications include a pamphlet Danced
By The Light Of The Moon in 1993 and a collection
Oak Apples and Heavenly Kisses in late 1999. The
poems for the "Web-Warp-Weft" project,
with Helen Whitehead, were his first written for
the web. He is very active on the literary scene
of the East Midlands as both poet/performer and
promoter.
Christopher
Mulrooney
is the author of notebook and sheaves.
Having
grown up on the plains, Jason
Nelson is bullied by downtowns and busy
streets. His work has appeared in most of the
usual places, but he still loves finding curious
new venues. Some of his odd work can be seen at:
www.heliozoa.com or tell him you hate his work
at: heliopod@yahoo.com.
Helen Whitehead is
a writer and editor who has been working with
online media since 1985. She explores science
& technology, family and spirituality and
is particularly interested in writing at the interstices
where these themes meet and intertwine. She has
led collaborative Web writing projects and has
taught Web writing and the Internet to a variety
of groups from 6-year-olds to attendees at the
Arvon Foundation residential writing courses in
Yorkshire, UK. She holds an MA in Writing from
The Nottingham Trent University, where she specialized
in hypertext fiction on the Web. She is currently
website editor for the trAce Online Writing Centre
and School, and Editor of "Kids on the Net."
Her major work "Web Warp & Weft"
was commissioned for the UK Year of the Artist
2000/2001.
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