TEXT TIME
those of you here last remember my Shock Cinema link. now, tis time to get all up and literate'n'shit on allayall with some reading material.
some of you already know this, but i make interactive books. how do i define this?
well, basically, i make pages for books, and try to present them in a way where people have to do something - drink some beer, knock down a mountain or solve a puzzle - to read the page.
and basically, the story is in told part by their actions.
trust me, it all makes sense when you see the books. i have three of them made so far. i'm making a fourth right now.
these books are examples of some of the things that interest and influence me as a writer and experientialst and why:
Story: novelty in perception: the man in the high tower, philip k. dick. all have told me that this is one of the most surprising and truly psychedelic works ever successfully told in a narrative structure. several visions of reality, and layers are removed right before your eyes to see or understand the vision in a way you would not expect or consider.
Story: intense imagery: naked in garden hills by harry crews. a true cult author, crews is probably one of the more in-your-face novelists of the 70s. this one deals with a nouveau rich, homely midget who owns a town. the town turns on him, and it really gets stranger from there.
Story: novelty in language: riddley walker, by russell hoban. told by a semi-literate young man at some point after a post-nuclear holocaust england, this book is written in an english that is almost transformed into a poetry of misspellings, slang and run-on sentences. also similar is the book a curious incident of the dog in the night, told by an autistic male who describes and orders his reality in a very peculiar way throughout the book.
Experience: traditional interactivity: the wonderful wizard of oz, illustrated by robert sabuda. robert sabuda is one of the worlds best paper engineers (in other words, he creates pop-up books and this is really his masterpiece. opening each page of this book is like seeing this city come to life on your lap, quite literally. and its the whole book too, original text by l. frank baum.
Experience: book as puzzle: masquerade by kit williams. when this book was released, the author had already made a solid gold hare and buried it somewhere in the world. this whole book was the puzzle that, if you solved it, would lead you to the exact place in the world where it was based. this was probably the very first attempt at geocaching, and its a beautiful book to watch and ponder.
Experience: book as action: the griffin and sabine series by nick bantock. most of you know the idea behind these lovingly designed books, but if not, it's a take on the epstolary novel form popular in the victorian era, but with a twist: the book contains actual envelopes with letters that griffin and sabine mail back and forward to each other. bragging rights: nick actually signed my first "book."
thanks to thursday for sending this back.
head: "this box, right now, composes our universe. but in our heads we can spiral out in any direction towards infinity."
mickey dolenz
those of you here last remember my Shock Cinema link. now, tis time to get all up and literate'n'shit on allayall with some reading material.
some of you already know this, but i make interactive books. how do i define this?
well, basically, i make pages for books, and try to present them in a way where people have to do something - drink some beer, knock down a mountain or solve a puzzle - to read the page.
and basically, the story is in told part by their actions.
trust me, it all makes sense when you see the books. i have three of them made so far. i'm making a fourth right now.
these books are examples of some of the things that interest and influence me as a writer and experientialst and why:
Story: novelty in perception: the man in the high tower, philip k. dick. all have told me that this is one of the most surprising and truly psychedelic works ever successfully told in a narrative structure. several visions of reality, and layers are removed right before your eyes to see or understand the vision in a way you would not expect or consider.
Story: intense imagery: naked in garden hills by harry crews. a true cult author, crews is probably one of the more in-your-face novelists of the 70s. this one deals with a nouveau rich, homely midget who owns a town. the town turns on him, and it really gets stranger from there.
Story: novelty in language: riddley walker, by russell hoban. told by a semi-literate young man at some point after a post-nuclear holocaust england, this book is written in an english that is almost transformed into a poetry of misspellings, slang and run-on sentences. also similar is the book a curious incident of the dog in the night, told by an autistic male who describes and orders his reality in a very peculiar way throughout the book.
Experience: traditional interactivity: the wonderful wizard of oz, illustrated by robert sabuda. robert sabuda is one of the worlds best paper engineers (in other words, he creates pop-up books and this is really his masterpiece. opening each page of this book is like seeing this city come to life on your lap, quite literally. and its the whole book too, original text by l. frank baum.
Experience: book as puzzle: masquerade by kit williams. when this book was released, the author had already made a solid gold hare and buried it somewhere in the world. this whole book was the puzzle that, if you solved it, would lead you to the exact place in the world where it was based. this was probably the very first attempt at geocaching, and its a beautiful book to watch and ponder.
Experience: book as action: the griffin and sabine series by nick bantock. most of you know the idea behind these lovingly designed books, but if not, it's a take on the epstolary novel form popular in the victorian era, but with a twist: the book contains actual envelopes with letters that griffin and sabine mail back and forward to each other. bragging rights: nick actually signed my first "book."
thanks to thursday for sending this back.
head: "this box, right now, composes our universe. but in our heads we can spiral out in any direction towards infinity."
mickey dolenz
VIEW 12 of 12 COMMENTS
Herbert is great, and I wrote a comment in the thread you started. Thanks for putting it out there, and giving me the heads up.
Did you know that Dani Siciliano is coming out with her debut solo albumn? She's the one who does all of the female vocals for Herbert. It's really good. Herbertesque (poppy and glichy) but definately different. It's not out yet here though, I found clips by searching on the net.