User:Lieven Van Speybroeck/Graduation Project/Outline

Project outline - 7 feb 2012

I - CONTEXT

Initial points of interest (~ as presented in group presentation / proposal / previous work):

• practice of reading (and secondly its intertwinement with the practice of writing)
• reading as mode(s) of production
• go beyond the 'read on screen versus read from paper'-discussion (superficial/medium-focused)
• question publishing practices
• challenge everyday reading tools

Further development: study/compare principles of oral, manuscript, print and electronic culture and their relation to the concept of 'reading':

1. oral culture: formulaic-dynamic, action-oriented

• production through speech/memory - performative | language as a mode of actions and not simply a countersign of thought - SOUND=POWER - importance of 'event'
• oral publication: symbiosis of memory and contemporary | combining and altering existing formulas | homeostatic = sloughing off memories which no longer have relevance
• speech = simultaneity of body and mind as a tool of action/expression/thought

2. manuscript culture: mosaic, DIY, collective, producer-oriented

• reader = ACTIVE/PRODUCTIVE role
• reading = audio-tactile-visual | requires full body and mind -> physicality! | memory >>> | speed <<<
• writing - reading - oration = inseparable
• publication = performance > public recitation as a principal form of book publication | conversational | heterogeneous | literature = something to be listened to in public
• copyculture = concerned about relevance and usability of items rather then sources - anonymity - content = part of great and total body of knowledge

3. print culture: fixed, individualistic, consumer-oriented

• reader = PASSIVE/CONSUMERIST role
• reading = visual stress | complete separation from the audio-tactile (eye-speech divorce) | memory <<< | speed >>>
• writing - reading - oration = separated -> segmentation of actions and functions - QUANTIFICATION: translation of non-visual relations and realities into visual terms
• publication = fixed, identical print copies | one-way communication | homogeneous
• literature = something to be scanned silently in private
• copyright culture = concerned about authorship, labels, authenticity, fame - content = expression of an individual
• categorization through separation (writer/reader - producer/consumer - ruler/ruled)

4. electronic culture: clash between oral/manuscript and print culture

• reader = PASSIVE/CONSUMERIST role + ACTIVE/PRODUCTIVE on metalevel (user-generated data)
• reading = scrolling - skimming - glancing | hypervisual stress | speed >>>>>>>>>>>>> | memory <<<<<<<<
• publication = fixed, but in many different forms | highly mediated | widespread/unprivileged/superaccessible
• literature = something to be scanned silently in public
• copyclash culture = copy culture intermingled with/obfuscated by copyright culture
• promise/potential of reuniting the audio-tactile-visual through electronic means (McLuhan / W.J. Ong - 'Second Orality')
• instead amplified the segmentation of actions, functions & senses + amplified visual authority
• depends for its existence and functioning entirely on print technology
• heavy weight on medium-based innovation => meeting old needs with new means

II - PRACTICAL EXPERIMENTS/FINAL OUTCOME

• custom keyboard with only characters | keys - measure pressure? | very basic tactile functionalities related to oral expression / scribal culture assigned to keys
• read an existing projected/printed text out loud and type it as you read it | record sound
• create printed copy of each reading session

-> start from print-initiated conception of the word as a thing in space

-> start a process of associating the word with sound and gesture through personal interpretation + computation

-> bring it back to the printed page - typography embodying these interpretations/computations

-> instantaneous? (cfr. plotter - 'live printing press')

-> each utterance/performance is in itself a publication/interpretation

-> library of one and the same text? (auditory - visual - tactile)

-> look at the effects of memorization over time on the level of expression/personal interpretation as reflected in the visual output?

• punctuation: time-based, pressure-based, volume based, tone-based?
• typography: size/style/configuration depending on time, pressure, volume, tone, voice timbre, ...?
• leave space for public involvement, specific environment, external sounds, ... (oral: the event!)

III - PURPOSE

1. GENERAL

• Attempt to reconstitute a multi-sensory reading practice combining core principles of oral, manuscript, print and electronic culture as an attempt to challenge conventional and evoke new methods of expression by means of (un)modified existing technology, thereby altering the focus from medium-based innovation to action-based exploration.

2. PRODUCTION

• reader: play with notions of activity/passivity, producing/consuming
• reading as an active mode of production (not only of 'knowledge' but of physical re-production)
• turn reading/writing into a (new?) full body and mind experience aided/determined by electronic means - physicality!
• challenge mechanistic/machinal segmentation of actions and functions - assembly-line mass-production

3. PUBLICATION

• question authorship/copyright/publication - each utterance of the same text becomes another interpretation/publication of that very same text

-> opportunity for personal input during reading: additions/alterations/deletions according to personal/contemporary relevance (~ oral/manuscript culture)

• explore the act of reading (out loud) as a form of publication
• experiment with the instant conversion of recitation to fixation
• play with public vs private | external vs internal | collective vs individualistic | ...

4. TOOL

• recontextualize an act of reading by incorporating the spoken, written and printed word (whether on paper or on screen)
• use time as a means of perception & exploration instead of fostering speed
• look at the importance/effect of memory in regard to the usage/adaptation to a tool and its output - level of expression (body-mind unity)
• challenge the level of interiorization of an existing tool by assigning different attributes/functions to it