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"Internal Damage Data" and "Fleshis.tics" by Mez Breeze

October 14, 2012
These two brief hypertext poems appear as items 3 and 4 in the list of featured works by Mary Anne Breeze (best known for her nom d’ordinateur, Mez) inCauldron & Net, Volume 2. These works exemplify two other aspects of her poetic practice: an interest in the body, particularly as meshed with programming, which she also uses to shape her works. “Internal Damage Data” uses the structure of a multiple choice questionnaire for self assessment of internal damage to shape the first part of the poem. For each question, Mez uses option C (maybe, unsure, other…) to develop her poem, seeking to transcend the traditional yes/no binaries in such questionnaires. In the part depicted above, she uses algorithms to structure her poem: using the logic and language of programming to guide the reader’s experience of the poem. Screen capture of "Fleshis.tics" by Mez Breeze. Red and yellow font over black background. Text: "fleshis.tics / meningx" “Fleshis.tics” gives voice to bodies enmeshed with digitality, through writing, and imagery. One strategy is by visually conveying this notion through a simple animated GIF called “fdrop,” image, which imbues the word with a three dimensional fluidity and embodiment beyond the visible abstraction of traditional writing. The lines of verse belonging to each cybernetically embodied female voice are a poetic expression reminiscent of Donna Haraway’s “Cyborg Manifesto” and N. Katherine Hayles’ “How We Became Posthuman.” Read some of the other links to get a sense of Breeze’s poetics and practice through intervews, correspondence, and transcripts of group performances. Note: This publication from 2000 is unfortunately missing many links, so I have linked to the site as preserved in the Internet Archive.

Read more about this work at: ELMCIP
Read this work ELMCIP
Entry by: Leonardo Flores
Categories: 2000, animated gif, Cauldron & Net, e-poetry, Entries, HTML, hypertext, kinetic, poetry, responsive, static, 2000
Author(s): Mez Breeze

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