“First Screening” by bpNichol

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Screen capture from "First Screening" by bpNichol. White text on a black background. Text: "Down to write you this poem sat"
Open “First Screening” by bpNichol

First Screening is a charming suite of short e-poems programmed in Apple BASIC by Canadian Concrete Poet bpNichol in 1984. This work was preserved, documented, ported, curated, and published in Vispo.com in 2007 by a collaborative group of poets and programmers: Jim Andrews, Geof Huth, Lionel Kearns, Marko Niemi, and Dan Waber. This publication consists of a curated collection of four different versions of this work:

  1. The original DSK file of the 1984 edition, which can be opened with an Apple IIe emulator, along with the Apple BASIC source code as a text file, and scanned images of the printed matter published with the 51/4 inch floppy disks it was distributed in.
  2. A video captured documentation of the emulated version in Quicktime format.
  3. The 1993 HyperCard version, ported by J. B. Hohm, along with the printed matter of that published edition.
  4. A JavaScript version of First Screening ported by Marko Niemi and Jim Andrews.

For most readers, I recommend the Javascript or Quicktime versions, which lovingly recreate or preserve the screen performance of these delightful dancing words. For those who have developed a taste for code, the texture of programming languages, and old operating systems, I recommend the emulated version. Those passionate about editorial interventions, the building of editions, and the socialization of texts should examine the Hypercard version.

But no one should miss the opportunity to see these letters and words dance, rockin’ it like it’s 1984!