On "My Body, a Wunderkammer"

Wunderkammer -- Wun-der-kam-mer /ˈvo͝ondərˌkämər/      plural: Wunderkammern

• meaning: a place where a collection of curiosities and rarities is exhibited
• origin: German
• literally means "wonder chamber"

Writer-Illustrator Shelley Jackson created "My Body, a Wunderkammer" in 1997, serving as an explanation for the low-fi sound of breathing that introduces the piece, and the art style that is not as refined as the illustrations Jackson used in 2005 for Kelly Link's Magic for Beginners.

Magic for Beginners, Kelly Link (2005).
Cover design by Shelley Jackson)

From "My Body, a Wunderkammer"
(Larger)

The familiarity of the author's name (love Magic for Beginners--one of my all-time favorite book covers) as well as the compelling title, drew me into the work. The art itself, while not as neat as Jackson's later work, is given a strength in that its lack of neatness can be seen as a "raw" quality which then correlates to the corporeal themes of the work. At times, the writing has a rawness, a lack of refinement that makes it seem more authentic and animalistic.

When I say animalistic, I merely mean to say, it's visceral, even primordial, but that's not good descriptors, as the work is thoughtful, but does so without meaning to be. The writing itself seems to be stream of consciousness, like the speaker looked at her naked body in the mirror, zeroed in a particular part, and wrote about it as the words came to her.

There was one good thing about the uncomfortable plastic chairs I sat in all through grade school: if I rubbed my arm against the back of the chair on a dry day, I got a funny feeling as if there were a layer of warm felt between my skin and the plastic. If I held my arm the right distance away, every hair stretched straight out toward the plastic. Then if I moved it slightly further away, every hair would droop in unison. With infinitesimal movements, invisible to everyone else, I could make my hairs straighten and bow, straighten and bow. (link)

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Credits

Writing: Eli Brittingham & Ashley Bach

Editing: Laura Soltis and Chad Kusenko

In absentia by J.R. Carpenter and "Mr. Plimpton's Revenge" by Dinty Moore

On In Absentia

Buster from Arthur (meme)

In absentia functions using Google Maps a key element, not unlike the Dinty Moore piece, but J.R. Carpenter morphs the Google Maps essay, using additional elements that while complicating the experience, make the site otherworldly and, therefore, conflates the surrealism of the In absentia. The prose at times uses a heightened language that implements sound techniques found in poetry, "Your backyard used to have an ancient wooden door sagging blue askew amidst a retinue of vines clinging to a crumbling cinderblock wall guarding an oasis of lazy Brown-Eyed-Susans." 

From In Absentia

The surrealism or magical realism comes into play after a close examination one can see that the placements of certain things, the image of the door included with, for example, does not seem logical. This is a juxtaposition of what we understand Google Maps to be, a factual information resource. This is obviously a factual entry on the map, but the door seems out of place with the urban apartment where the entry is said to take place. Was that door really there, or did J.R. Carpenter take a liberty, and what motive did she have for setting that door as the symbol for this place?

Another property of importance is how some of the features, namely street view, elevates the experience, by turning the setting into a known place without ever being there, and a place that can be explored like the land in the classic Sega game/childhood mindf*** Myst (walkthrough for Windows 95 version below)

On "Mr. Plimpton's Revenge"

In the piece of e-literature, Mr. Pimptons Revenge, a young college student was asked to chauffeur the famous writer, Mr. Plimpton. Between a $400 crap car, being hungover from drugs and not having enough money for lunch, it was not the greatest experience for Mr. Plimpton to say the least. Throughout this google maps essay Dinty had a few more odd acquaintances with Mr. Plimpton almost making him seem as if he were stalking him! The Revenge Mr. Plimpton gets is when a few years later when Dinty has become a writer with a few books of his own, he sees Mr. Plimpton at a conference… to find out the revenge he gets you must read this essay! click here to read the Mr. Plimptons Revenge

I found this piece very interesting and thought it was different but a fun read. I couldn’t help but to catch myself laughing out loud in a room by myself. I had a smile on my face during the entire piece. It also kept me in suspense in wanting to know what the revenge was. As you read and follow his experience around on the map with this easy to follow format, you will feel more engaged and attentive during the entire story. This is a read I will never forget and would recommend it to anyone in need of a good laugh. It will make never think of google maps the same way again.

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Credits

Writing: Laura Soltis and Ashley Bach

Editing: Chad Kusenko and Eli Brittingham

Hyperlinks: Chad Kusenko, Eli Brittingham, and Ashley Bach

Screenshot_Definition_of_Data_Mining.jpg

New logo 

Elijah's Post

What is Digital Humanities?

Digital Humanities is the link between different aspects of humanities such as history, literature, music etc. to media. For example the app Instagram is social media application that allows the user to post pictures for their followers to see. This is a great way for artists and photographers to showcase their work and express themselves. This falls under the making/creating aspect of Digital Humanities. There is also an archival/database aspect to Digital humanities that allows more accessibility to information. An example of this is Wikipedia.

Digital Humanities Defined

What is Digital Humanities?

When thinking about Digital Humanities, I think about the Humanities themselves. Which are

the fields of Education, Art, History, and Foreign Language. Digital Humanities takes these 

humanities and uses them in modern technology in order to better explain them in different ways

than they were initially intended. With the use of modern technology, it is much easier and more 

effective to look at the humanities. Since the field is constantly changing and growing, there is 

always something new to see in the field of Digital Humanities.

-Chad Kusenko

A Definition of Digitial Humanities

Digital humanities is literature that functions with technology being an essential part of its production. Matthew Kirschenbaum referenced the Wikipedia article on the concept, which, to paraphrase, said that digital humanities incorporates aspects of literature and literary scholarly in en electronic form. Works relating to digital humanities will be investigative and analytical, but most importantly they will be a synthesis of "presentation and information." Examples of digital humanities include, but are not limited to, Twitter accounts that use textbots and interactive literature.

-Ashley Bach

Translation (x)

What is Digital Humanities?

What is Digital Humanities?

I believe Digital Humanities is the way we can use technology to create and share new knowledge. Digital humanities includes the databases that are used to collect information digitally. It also includes research or scholarship which can be the analysis of any digital multimedia. Lastly it is the creation of digital art for example; multimedia, games, and crowdsourcing. It is more than just taking something from the humanities and something from the digital world and just combining them. It is about creating something that cannot be done without the digital world.

Laura Soltis

Well, come?