1995

Pinky and the Brain Title Sequence by Bryan Evans, Tom Ruegger, et. al.

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[Pinky and the Brain Introduction] by Tom Ruegger et. al.
Pinky and the Brain Title Sequence by Bryan Evans, Tom Ruegger et. al.
The title sequence for the 1995-1998 animated television series Pinky and the Brain is best known for its memorable theme song but its kinetic typography, created by Bryan Evans, is worthy of attention as an unexpected e-poem. Its lyrics, penned by series creator Tom Ruegger, consist of comical rhyming verses in iambic trimeter (mostly) that introduce the characters and their motivations, as can be seen in the first stanza below.

They’re Pinky and The Brain
Yes, Pinky and The Brain
One is a genius
The other’s insane.
They’re laboratory mice
Their genes have been spliced
They’re dinky
They’re Pinky and The Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain
Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain
Brain.

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“The adventures of i” by Komninos Zervos

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Screen shot from “The adventures of I” by Komninos Zervos. White background with the word “MOTHER” written in red, rotated from the left top corner to the right downward corner. The letter “i” is in front of the word in white, blocking part of its view.
Open “The adventures of i” by Komninos Zervos

This narrative “cyberpoem” started in 1995 with the goal of developing into a lengthy “soapie” about the life of i. The project obviously didn’t go on for a long time, though the 18 webisodes plus two alternate guest webisodes collected here are a testament to an ingenious exploration of the narrative potential of animated Concrete Poetry. Each piece is an ingenious animated GIF that illustrates and comments upon a moment in the early life of a character named i. The personification of the typographical character i and the transformation of other words into objects that i explores and interacts with truly exemplifies the Noigandres group’s description of Concrete Poetry as “tension of things-words in space-time.”

If this all seems too intellectual and dry, go read the poems: they are surprisingly moving as i comes to life.

“dimocopo – digital moving concrete poetry” by Komninos Zervos

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Screen capture from "dimocopo - digital moving concrete poetry" by Komninos Zervos. Black text on white background. The letter "i" beginning the verse cuts through the rest of the text, which is significantly smaller. Text: "I learnt/me I myself/to like I again/"
Open “dimocopo – digital moving concrete poetry” by Komninos Zervos

This suite of 28 early animated poems from 1995-1997 were created as animated GIFs but are really powered by a vibrant enthusiasm over the ability of computers to write kinetic language. In this suite, we see words morph into other words and into objects, words whose movements evoke their meanings, words used to build landscapes full of objects (a decade before WordWorld), and phrases reconfiguring and reshaping themselves into new ones— as is the case with “she left” (above). This poem is very economical with its language resources, yet so effective in describing the psychological process of a breakup in a relationship. These poems are little gems worth exploring, though the poet doesn’t necessarily make it easy for us.

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