This generative poem is largely inspired by Kurt Schwitters and his Dadaist sound poetry, such as Ursonate (1922-1932). Free from the constraint of meaning, a sound poet is able to use language structured into units other than pre-established words to explore articulation, rhythm, sound combinations, rhyme, musicality, line lengths, the cultural associations of particular sounds, phonetics, and more.
The poem generates sound poems by processing words entered by the user generated and search engine results with the FIPS 181 Automated Password Generator algorithm, which produces a pronounceable encrypted set of sounds. The Web version has a machine read the syllables aloud, but this has also been used to generate scores for live performances, as seen in the documentation page.
I’m fascinated by how a word or phrase is “read” by the poem into such a different set of sounds transformed by contradictory human desires: to reveal (by searching and finding) and to conceal (through encryption and passwords).
Featured in ELO 2012 Media Art Show
