"The Art of Immemorability"

The Art of Immemorability was an interesting reading that covered the span of literacy, language and writing that turned into technology today. I think that this reading was definitely a bit challenging but it was not entirely incomprehensible. I enjoyed that the reading really covered the history of language and the transformation that it has made in our culture. I enjoyed the note, “The real technology –behind all of our other technologies-is language,” (4). I think that this point highlights the idea that technology and literature and language are entirely similar and within one category. With computers and the internet and with written language and literate pieces of work, I think that people similarly interpret what they see and what they read and people must adapt to new ways of thinking and writing.

I also found that the overall aspects of the writing were comprehensible, but there were a few moments of lost clarity when the writer refers to other texts and writers that I had a lack of background knowledge about. Besides the short moments of confusion, the writing was very interesting and demonstrated the transformation that language has made over a vast period of time. Through this essay, it is clear that every movement and advancement that language and writing has made are valid and important forms of literature in our society. I found it to be clear that writing tracks language and records its significance as it also modifies the forms of language and entertains people. This article clearly emphasizes that experimental language and forms of literature are necessary and innovative. Such a transformation of literature represents the very technological advancements language has made.

Letter Animation

Response to "The Grey Line"

Experimental Literature

            All of the poem choices on course reserve were fascinating to me, but I felt that the poem “The Grey Line,” was the most striking poem that was also understandable. The piece itself is somewhere in-between a poem typed in a normal manner and a completely abstract and alternative poem. I really like that the title of the poem is itself incorporated into the visual design of the poem as the grey line is the line of the word ‘grey’ that connects the poem through a vertical line in two columns. I think that in creating such a visually dynamic and poetically pleasing piece the author was hoping to get their audience members to interact with the piece visually, mentally, and with a great deal of imagination. If you read the poem through straight without concerning yourself with context it is not challenging to read as some poems have the words broken up or the lines are all over the page, but the meaning and visualization of the piece takes a little extra work. The grey line itself is very visually intriguing in the consistency of the word simply as a word, as a color, a descriptor and as a monotone of life. I do not think that this repetition of this particular word makes the poem gloomy or depressing as I would first expect but it gives the piece consistency on different levels. This is because sometimes the grey implies blandness or dull qualities and sometimes it is pleasant and calming. In addition, the choice the author made to display the lines as entering from the left and ending with the word ‘grey’ and then beginning with ‘grey’ for other lines is also visually and imaginatively intriguing. They add dimension and visual intrigue throughout the poem. I also found that the color blue is also used frequently as a color tone and as an emotional state of blue-grey. This choice I think is significant because blue is a relaxing tone visually and emotionally yet it can also be a bit somber like grey itself. The combination of these two colors provides for a visually(picture in the mind) pleasing notion of a calm and relaxed world.

            I feel like the composer of this particular piece of artwork and poetry displayed their piece in such a creative fashion to add depth and as I said visual reference. I think that they wanted to stay away from the traditional approach to writing and displaying poetry because they did not want the viewer or reader to just read the poem for the words on the page but to examine the placement and choice of the words on the page. The meaning of this poem extends beyond the lines and phrases of words used and can be discovered in the ‘grey line’ that acts as a median, a focal point for viewers and a center for imagination and discovery. The end of the poem is also very significant because it is the area of which grey is repeated directly a few times without any attached words/lines and the lines that are attached are the most prominent descriptions of grey at peace and in happiness-“pretty grey” “silver grey,” “grey on the skyline.”

            I think that going into this piece I had an open mind to visual creativity and this open mind and a free imagination are the only things that a potential reader really needs to have to understand the poem. This piece is not as abstract as some other pieces but a strong imagination is still key to understanding the piece and in welcoming its’ creativity and potential. I think that another key in recognizing the visual creativity in this piece is to notice that many lines are simple 2-3 word descriptions always using the word grey and others are longer visualizations of what the word can imply and relate to. For my own future work I would really like to incorporate these ideas of forming sentences around a central word in the center of the page. I think that this is very interesting and intriguing. In this piece and form in particular, also the method is not overwhelming so that the repetition does not get to be annoying, but it is rather a good focal point of interest and design on the page. Another creative element that I would like to use in the future is the use of designing the lines to meet in the center coming from both the left and the right sides of the center line of grey.

            **I could not figure out how to properly also post the peice itself-with the copyright and everything but it is one of the poems from The Order of Things:Scottish Sound, Pattern, and Concrete Poetry.
The piece is created by Donald Urquhart.

The Flying f

Today, I noticed a lowercase f that had angel wings and that was flying across the screen, with the wings moving the f along. This animation was just so creative and exciting...I have no idea how the artist was able to make so much go on with the f and the wings but I wish to learn. I really enjoyed that the f was connected to the fly from the start letter and that this word was then the creativity set into motion on the screen. The animation ended with the word fly which really wrapped up the short piece and brought the connection to life. I think that I could also set an A word inspired piece into motion to really express something vivid with an actual picture on the screen. I think this simple f animation was really beautiful and  surprisingly poetic for a one letter animation.

Expressing A letter in motion

My first rough draft of my letter A animation is somewhat simple, and I would definitely like to advance the animation as I learn more about flash and work to expand my project. For now, I think that the simplicity of my animation does hold some value. My letter A rolls along the page and grows smaller and larger and then-my favorite aspect of my letter animation-the A transforms from a salmon tone to a lavender tone. I think that color-especially on a typeface screen expresses a great deal of creativity and enlitenment about such a piece.

Thoughts on first animation project...

I am still getting used to adobe flash and how to make my letter come to life, but from my first draft to my final draft of my letter I hope to show the history of formation and the abilities of my letter in entertaining animation on the screen. I would like to animate the letter A in the capital form- to transform the letter's look from one of the earliest designs through 3 or 4 different looks so the A is always changing shape, I would also like show the abilities of this letter on the screen by using the bottom/feet that are always present in some way shape or form to make the transformed letter animation walk or dance depending on the style-across the animated screen. I am not sure if this is too much to do with the letter or exactly how I will execute this plan, but I think that I will be able to work with each A formation to play with how exactly each version of type can move along. I think that these basic ideas will provide for an educating and entertaining animation of the letter A.

History of the Letter A

The letter A is the first character of the alphabet and has been since our alphabet was adapted from the Egyptian language and then from the Phoenicians. The entire alphabet has progressed a long way since the beginning thoughts of writing and letters. A few web pages that I found demonstrated how the capital letter A, was pretty much always formed with three lines, but the look of this formation has changed a good deal. At the same time, many ancient forms of the letter A were formed like an open triangle, and several lowercase formats look like today's English u. It seems also that most formats were designed from the modifying formats that came before them, such as the rustic capital of which the capital A gains feet on the bottom of the two large meeting lines but there is no middle dash to complete the A we are now familiar with. I learned from another article a theory on the possible origin of the letter A from the Phoenicians, which is that they used the ox head to start their alphabet thus the letter A represents this picture and starts out their alphabet in a very strong manner.
I am interested in the letter A mostly because it can be written in so many ways to still be interpreted as the same letter; I also find it interesting that this letter or any variation of it always starts off the alphabet and seems to be used in abundance when reading through any article, book, paper, ad, etc. I think that an animation using the letter A can show people the variations of the letter, and the many looks, whether in size, format, color, shape, or angle, that it can hold on a page. I hope to use animation to make the letter A appear as a flowing format of my own, that can dance around a page and put its feet to good use.
http://www.citrinitas.com/history_of_viscom/alphabet.html
http://www.greek-language.com/Alphabet.html
http://www.itcfonts.com/Ulc/2711/A.htm
http://medievalwriting.50megs.com/scripts/letters/historya.htm
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/cyrillic.htm

Letter: A

The letter A is symmetrical, moving, traditional, and in abundance. The letter A is used in words of all shapes and sizes, in sentences of all forms. A is a word within itself, which cannot be said about any other letter in the english language. A is standard and often formed with the straightest of lines and little imagination, but allows room for creativity to grow and for the lines to curve and twist. The curves can twist into the rest of the word remaining or the creative A is strong enough to stand alone. The letter A shows possibilities and style in lowercase forms and uppercase forms from my views. I find it entirely fascinating that this letter can be written like this a or as a more informal lowercase a which can also be translated into the uppercase form. I also find it fascinating that this letter is used for the @ sign. I can see the letter A rolling with curves across a page or moving around on what could function as two feet in the uppercase form. I can see this letter moving strong and solid across the page or possibly dancing along to express its spirited feeling and to involve the reader in the writing to be appreciated.

About me

This is my first official blog! I am excited to see how my posts and responses work out on here and I hope to write creative and interesting posts here. I am a junior at UWM and I am an English Education major. This course in general seems very new and enticing as I have never used flash before. I am looking forward to learning more about computer programs like flash and discovering the idea of animating words and my creative works of literature.