Monday, May 15, 2006
Over the weekend I was able to review the eBook files, make a few fixes, and begin testing. So far, so good; I’ve given it to a few other people around here to look at, and with luck it’ll be ready to go to press before too much time passes. I’m only a bit sorry that more of the latest work isn’t included, but any project of this sort will never come to an end if you don’t put a cap on it!
Progress is transpiring on all fronts. I spent some time with Siew Wai today, talking about the upcoming performance at MMU, devising ways she too can be involved. I was quite fascinated to hear that she’s making unusual music with traditional Malaysian instruments, which fits hand-in-glove with one of the other ideas I’ve been toying with, so I think incorporating her work on this front will be a great addition. She is also an excellent vocalist, and I hope to utilize that talent if possible. With an hour of performance time to fill, working both of these possibilities into the gig shouldn’t be a problem.
I can’t remember if I mentioned it before or not, but Sau Bin has asked me to do a performance at the opening of an exhibit in KL called “God & Man” that includes his work, so that’s what I’ll be doing on the night of June 7. The schedule is quickly filling up, with plenty more work to be done during our last (for this visit) 10 weeks here.
On the database front, I came up with a working title for the project, which will called something like “13 States of Malaysia” or something like that, and this afternoon I worked with unfettered concentration on a couple of odd compositions about Terengganu and Putrajaya, two of the many interesting places we’ve seen in the past few months. I’m using a combination of generated information and personal insight to craft the texts, and with the various processes I’ve decided to use, it is actually a lot more demanding that I’d reckoned. I’m planning to make 13 texts, and select an equal number of representative images and sounds to put into the database, which can then be used by either an individual user, or in a performance setting. Unfortunately, it is doubtful that the mechanism will be built by the third week of June, although the materials will be on hand and used in the performance. I’m also planning to use the images, sounds, and texts in the show at MIA Gallery in July.
Sandy Baldwin recently invited me to participate in a mini E-Poetry festival at West Virginia University in September, and today he sent a list of people who are supposedly going to be there. It’s impressive! I’m always glad (& not only because it is good for the research) to be in the company of serious practitioners like Rosenberg, Sondheim, Glazier, Emerson, Goldsmith, aND, etc., and it looks like some new blood’ll be present too. If everything goes according to plan, I’ll perform the database materials there (and give a talk about anthropophagy and the Google Poetry Generator as well). While trying not to be too attached to our terrific life here, it would be somewhat inaccurate to say I’m looking forward to returning to the States—but knowing that there are a couple of sweet events out there on the horizon (I’ve also been invited to lecture at Yale in the Fall, at a symposium called “50 Years of Concrete Poetry at the Museum of Modern Art”) will make the impending transition much better. In the meantime, making the most of what we have for now…
Progress is transpiring on all fronts. I spent some time with Siew Wai today, talking about the upcoming performance at MMU, devising ways she too can be involved. I was quite fascinated to hear that she’s making unusual music with traditional Malaysian instruments, which fits hand-in-glove with one of the other ideas I’ve been toying with, so I think incorporating her work on this front will be a great addition. She is also an excellent vocalist, and I hope to utilize that talent if possible. With an hour of performance time to fill, working both of these possibilities into the gig shouldn’t be a problem.
I can’t remember if I mentioned it before or not, but Sau Bin has asked me to do a performance at the opening of an exhibit in KL called “God & Man” that includes his work, so that’s what I’ll be doing on the night of June 7. The schedule is quickly filling up, with plenty more work to be done during our last (for this visit) 10 weeks here.
On the database front, I came up with a working title for the project, which will called something like “13 States of Malaysia” or something like that, and this afternoon I worked with unfettered concentration on a couple of odd compositions about Terengganu and Putrajaya, two of the many interesting places we’ve seen in the past few months. I’m using a combination of generated information and personal insight to craft the texts, and with the various processes I’ve decided to use, it is actually a lot more demanding that I’d reckoned. I’m planning to make 13 texts, and select an equal number of representative images and sounds to put into the database, which can then be used by either an individual user, or in a performance setting. Unfortunately, it is doubtful that the mechanism will be built by the third week of June, although the materials will be on hand and used in the performance. I’m also planning to use the images, sounds, and texts in the show at MIA Gallery in July.
Sandy Baldwin recently invited me to participate in a mini E-Poetry festival at West Virginia University in September, and today he sent a list of people who are supposedly going to be there. It’s impressive! I’m always glad (& not only because it is good for the research) to be in the company of serious practitioners like Rosenberg, Sondheim, Glazier, Emerson, Goldsmith, aND, etc., and it looks like some new blood’ll be present too. If everything goes according to plan, I’ll perform the database materials there (and give a talk about anthropophagy and the Google Poetry Generator as well). While trying not to be too attached to our terrific life here, it would be somewhat inaccurate to say I’m looking forward to returning to the States—but knowing that there are a couple of sweet events out there on the horizon (I’ve also been invited to lecture at Yale in the Fall, at a symposium called “50 Years of Concrete Poetry at the Museum of Modern Art”) will make the impending transition much better. In the meantime, making the most of what we have for now…
# posted by chris funkhouser @ 6:20 AM 
