Andy Campbell – I ❤️ E-Poetry

“Paperwounds,” by Andy Campbell

January 7, 2014 by Ian Rolón

“Paperwounds,” is an intimate look into the sometimes-surreal, often-manic realm of the suicidal and depressed. It is an intense snapshot of the numerous facets that go into the decision of taking one’s own life, each of its disparate parts aligning to form a piecemeal narrative readers may only ever really guess at in its entirety. Presented as a crumpled up piece of paper, readers “unwrap” the suicide note by clicking on the highlighted/pulsating words within its folds. Doing so exhumes other, shorter notes the writer placed within the virtual letter, each one a different illustration of–perhaps–what drove the fictional victim to this ultimate negation of self. The interface, technological sounds, and brief animations when you mouse over certain texts combined with the ruined state of the materials create a forensic tone for the work, casting the reader in the role of an investigator. The poem may be zoomed in on, zoomed out from, flipped, rotated, dimmed, and made completely invisible–though doing any of the aforementioned does not seem to change the nature of the text at first glance.

“Paperwounds,” por Andy Campbell

February 14, 2019January 7, 2014 by Ian Rolón

“Paperwounds” es una mirada íntima al reino a veces surrealista, a menudo maníaco de los suicidas y deprimidos. Es una imagen intensa de las numerosas facetas que influyen en la decisión de quitarse la vida, cada una de sus partes dispares se alinea para formar una narración fragmentaria que los lectores solo pueden adivinar en su totalidad. Presentado como una hoja de papel arrugada, los lectores “desenvuelven” la nota de suicidio haciendo clic en las palabras resaltadas/palpitantes dentro de sus pliegues. Al hacerlo, exhuma otras notas más cortas que el escritor colocó dentro de la carta virtual, cada una de las cuales es una ilustración diferente de, quizás, lo que condujo a la víctima ficticia a esta última negación de sí mismo. La interfaz, los sonidos tecnológicos y las animaciones breves cuando pasa el mouse sobre ciertos textos combinados con el estado arruinado de los materiales crean un tono forense para el trabajo, convirtiendo al lector en el papel de un investigador. El poema puede acercarse, alejarse, voltearse, girar, atenuarse y hacerse completamente invisible, aunque hacer lo anterior no parece cambiar la naturaleza del texto a primera vista.

“Dim O’Gauble” por Andy Campbell

February 11, 2019July 22, 2012 by Leonardo Flores

Este trabajo multimedia utiliza un conjunto de dibujos infantiles, enlaces a obras de arte magníficamente espeluznantes, interfaz de usuario de acercamiento, desplazamiento de paralaje con capas de imágenes artísticas y una combinación de líneas de poesía estáticas y programadas para crear una experiencia narrativa ricamente inmersiva. En su entrevista con Fabio De Vivo, Campbell discute su proceso creativo y sus objetivos al producir trabajos para medios digitales, comparándolo “con álbumes de recortes, con fragmentos de gráficos, códigos, escritura y sonido, todos traídos al mismo lugar y mezclados / editados juntos para crea un trabajo que trascienda (con suerte) cualquier componente individual en particular “.

“Dim O’Gauble” by Andy Campbell

July 22, 2012 by Leonardo Flores

This multimedia work uses a set of child-like drawings, links to gorgeously spooky artwork, zooming user interface, parallax scrolling with layers of artistic imagery, and a combination of static and scheduled lines of poetry to craft a richly immersive narrative experience. In his interview with Fabio De Vivo, Campbell discusses his creative process and goals when producing works for digital media, comparing it “to scrapbooking, with snippets of graphics, code, writing and sound all brought into the same place and blended/edited together to create a work which transcends (hopefully) any particular single component.”

“The Flat” by Andy Campbell

July 21, 2012 by Leonardo Flores

This narrative poem uses a series of photographs of an apartment that the reader can click on certain parts to navigate or explore with the pointer. The use of parallax scrolling, atmospheric background sounds, and the images themselves create an immersive experience for the readers, who have slightly over 2 minutes to explore these spaces perhaps with the hope of “winning.” Running out of time leads to a ghostly ending and the opportunity to “re-enter the flat,” which you’ll get three times before being redirected to Campbell’s main site, Dreaming Methods, a kind of “game over” convention from video games. This game aspect, in addition to the mystery of this flat’s history, help draw readers in to deeper, faster explorations of the spaces in this work, seeking narrative and game closure.

“The Flat” por Andy Campbell

February 11, 2019July 21, 2012 by Leonardo Flores

Este poema narrativo utiliza una serie de fotografías de un apartamento que el lector puede pulsar en ciertas partes para navegar o explorar con el puntero. El uso del desplazamiento de paralaje, los sonidos atmosféricos de fondo y las propias imágenes crean una experiencia inmersiva para los lectores, quienes tienen un poco más de 2 minutos para explorar estos espacios con la esperanza de “ganar.” Quedar sin tiempo lleva a un final fantasmal y la oportunidad de “reingresar al apartamento,” que obtendrás tres veces antes de ser redirigido al sitio principal de Campbell, “Dreaming Methods,” una especie de convención de “game over” de los videojuegos. Este aspecto del juego, además del misterio de la historia de este piso, ayuda a atraer a los lectores a exploraciones más profundas y más profundas de los espacios en este trabajo, buscando la narración y el cierre del juego.

“Joyride” by Judi Alston and Andy Campbell

July 20, 2012 by Leonardo Flores

This hypertext poem is based on a set of images of a wrecked car— ostensibly the result of a joyride. Each image focuses on a detail of the crashed (or trashed) vehicle, punctuating the violence of the result with a sound associated with its frame of reference.

“Spawn” by Andy Campbell

July 19, 2012 by Leonardo Flores

This poem is structured around a cluster of little black dots that were “spawned” inside an upside down glass jar, that looks like a terrarium seeded with an alien species— or a surreal twist on capturing fireflies in a jar.

“Spawn” por Andy Campbell

February 11, 2019July 19, 2012 by Leonardo Flores

Este poema está estructurado alrededor de un grupo de pequeños puntos negros que fueron “engendrados” dentro de un frasco de vidrio boca abajo, que parece un terrario sembrado con una especie exótica, o un giro surrealista en la captura de luciérnagas en un frasco.

“FaceDown” by Andy Campbell

July 18, 2012 by Leonardo Flores

Open “FaceDown” by Andy Campbell

This poem is mapped onto an oddly lit, distorted image of a young man’s face that looks unconscious, drunk, maybe dead. The interface is simple: the reader drags the image and zooms in and out (predating Prezi’s ZUI by about 8 years) to be able to read the texts arranged on the face. With the use of grids and sounds making it reminiscent of the Esper machine in Blade Runner, this interface turns the reader into a kind of detective, examining this image for clues, texts, and insight on this emotional wreck of a speaker. Highlighted words in the poem (and in a navigation menu) trigger kinetic and responsive textual structures, each of which arranges lines in different ways, inviting readers to figure them out and the insights they provide.