dra.ft
Platform as a place of study

Platform as a place of study

E-lit as already decolonised

Curated by dra.ft

A series of exhibitions, workshops and activities focused on Indian and Asian E-Lit that will unfold through Spring 2021. In Partnership with Electronic Literature Organization Conference 2021

CONCEPT NOTE

Un-flattening the platform or falling over - De-colonising E-lit.

What is immanent in the proposal of the platform? It’s flatness, the promise of a timeless terra-nullius, a world-turtle cosmology that is forgetful of what it rests on and a linear and uniform gravity that produces a predictable formal symmetry. It is possible that the platform is an infinitesimal section of a large body unaware of its own continuities. But what if the platform is in fact a sublime space extended till the horizon and a disc floating in the absence of everything else. What if the Earth is flat and if we reach the edge of the platform we will in fact topple over.

The platform implies flatness, a representative tactic, a simplification, a reduction and yet it presents itself as a land full of potential. We pose some points of departure: What is it the platform cannot do? What is it the platform cannot know about itself? Where is its edge beyond which we can experience a free fall? What if we excavate the platform? What if we discover depth in the platform? What if we desire to go inside it rather than hang around on its surface? What if there are more dimensions to it?

That would imply that the platform contains its own history. And then it would be possible to even speculate its genesis story. Imagine a time when the platform was still unstable. Can we determine an action that can undo the platform in this way. Or indeed, if the platform is flat how far do we have to go to fall over its edge?

Fall over the edge (extensions and span):

What can we create that is at the edge of platform-based e-lit? What is E-lit as a platform? What are its limits?

Suggested points of work and discussion: Multilingual, Post-lingual, Post-discursivity and E-lit, Materiality and E-lit, Annihilation and E-lit, Mythology and E-lit, Suicide and E-lit, Nihilism and E-lit, E-lit and delirium, E-lit and vertigo, Dalit Lit and E-lit.

Excavate the platform (details and depth):

How can the history of the platform become the material for E-lit? What discourses produce the platform,

Suggested points of work and discussion: E-lit about E-lit, Proposals for unstable platforms, Hacking the platforms, Platform as E-lit, History as platform, History of E-lit in India, Discovering Indian E-lit and more.

Proposed Components for “Platform as a Place of Study”

Collaborative Text Lab

Proposed a 3-4 day artist workshop with archival platforms of the region. Facilitators will introduce artists to the resource/archive and useful tools. Process and works will be showcased on a dedicated website as an interactive exhibition.

Proposed subjects: Multilinguality, Tech, Design (Visual, Interaction), Gaming

Proposed archives: Pad.ma, Tattle, Rekhta, NCBS, Pari Network

Co-Po-Jam

co-po-jam is an opportunity for writers, artists and technologists to showcase their works outside of mainstream contexts. An experimental space to discover, hypothesise and speculate on the nature of writing in the digital age.

There will be 2 Jams organised through the proposed time period. Each event might focus on certain subjects or regions. Themes include but not limited to:

  • Code as poetry
  • Generative poetry/prose
  • “Insta”-poetry
  • Live-coding and poetry
  • Twitter bots and more
  • Poetry and Machine Learning
  • Concrete poetry in webGL
  • Phone (voice) based poetry
  • Whatsapp/Telegram poetry
  • Zoom poetry

An effort will be made to include other Asian regions in the co-po-jam. There is no obligation for the project showcase to be in English.
Other points

  • Code Poetry Jam - 2 Jam events to be conducted
    • One month prior to conference (April 2021)
    • During conference (May 2021)
  • Entries via Open Call (separate for each Jam)

Past CoPoJam: https://dra-ft.site/copojam1

E-LIT and LIVECODING

From the growing efforts in the livecoding (Algorave) community in the region, a music and music writing showcase is part of proposed components. The focus will be to share workflows, tools, and larger concepts around algorithms, improvisation as a creative tool in music performance. Creating a discursive jump off point for creators of various backgrounds.

WEBSITE/INTERFACE for INTERACTIVE EXHIBITION

Works created or featured will be showcased on an interactice web interface. Some interactive features for visitors: leaving comments on exhibits, pinboard for dropping memes (memes as e-lit), collaborative haiku submitters, generative poetry, etc.