The theme of migration resonates powerfully through this poem because it can be conceptualized through so many different frames of reference. The most visual one is evoked by sperm-like word clusters swimming in the water-like screen space, a migration that results in death for most and survival through fertilization— which is also a radical transformation. When combined with the notion of human migration through history (and prehistory) that results in genetic and ethnic diversity, this work becomes very personal for Jason Lewis, who describes his ethnicity as “Cherokee, Hawaiian, Samoan, raised in northern California rural mountain redneck culture.” Another perspective on migration occurs as academics go towards employment opportunities and are shaped by the institutions that receive them, as was the case with Lewis joining the faculty of the Design and Computation Arts program at Concordia University in Canada and founding the OBX Laboratory for Experimental Media. From a more media-specific notion of migration, the shift from page to screen, not just of the word, but of individual and community identities echoes with the Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace project.
So get the free iOS app, view the video documentation, or go see this work as an installation to experience the flow of objects and words, randomness and direction, rivers and seas, tap and trace, strings and constellations.
Featured in ELO 2013: Chercher le Texte Virtual Gallery
