The Poetry of Gaming and Other Online Interventions

Symposium:

• ISEA2002: 11th International Symposium on Electronic Art
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• Online, Brain, Process

• The Poetry of Gaming and Other Online Interventions

• Joseph DeLappe

• The emergence of interactive, online, “first person shooter” game spaces exist as largely overlooked environments for creative interventions. The hyper-violent, virtual world of online gaming, with its futuristic settings designed for purely visceral, simulated mayhem, presents an ideal forum for conceptual engagement.

  The artist will present documentation from an ongoing series of “first person shooter”, online game-based spoken word performances. The first in this series of internet pieces, Howl:  Holomatch – Elite Force Voyager, involved logging onto Holomatch, an online competitive shooter based on the popular TV show, Star Trek Voyager.

  The artist chose as his character name “Allen Ginsberg”. He proceeded to spend approximately 4 hours total time using the game’s ability to type messages to all players to recite/type, in its’ entirely, Ginsberg’s seminal beat poem Howl. The typewritten text appeared in yellow, on every player’s screen image in real-time. As the poem is recited, the Ginsberg character is immobile with a cartoon-like speakers bubble over his head. The other players interact with the performer by killing him — he is then instantly re-incarnated and proceeds with the reading.

   

  Full text (PDF) p. 171

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