Open “The Struggle Continues” by Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries
When Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries (YHCHI) entered the scene in the late ’90s they did so with a splash because they had struck gold with an artistic formula that was both timely and classic: words synchronized to music displayed filling the screen. No interactivity, no multiple reading paths, no text generation, no bells and whistles, just plain and simple yet compellingly written text displayed to the tune of great jazz. For audiences, it is comfortingly familiar, like film or television, yet it is also challenging because it compels focus and unwavering attention. The passivity of familiar media that requires no decisions from you blends well with the active engagement that is the act of reading, particularly when scheduled to the beat of a catchy tune.
“The Struggle Continues” combines a poetic text about the struggle for sex, love, equality and the freedom to enjoy all of the above with the afternoon take of Sonny Rollins’ 1957 live recording of “A Night in Tunisia” published in the album A Night at the Village Vanguard (remastered and reissued in 1999). Irreverent, raunchy, and very very cool, this poem set the bar high for YHCHI early in their careers as Web artists and has given them unprecedented success in the field of e-literature.
So crank up the volume, turn off your phones, and lose yourself in an amazing textual and musical experience.
