Fan Fiction

Ask anyone in my family. When I get obsessed with something, I. Get. Obsessed. Normally for me it is anything with rock music. If I hear a song, not only do I look up the song, I look up the lyrics and their meanings, I look up the band information, and I look up videos. In a way, when I look at lyrics, I look at them the same as the fans of Lost do. They take small lines or pieces of a scene and try to tie it to the whole storyline. I look at lyrics and try to figure out the overall meaning of the song. I don't start blogs about them but there are sites that I'll write on like songmeanings.net. I think there needs to be a certain amount of obsession and passion in our lives.

Fan Fiction

I found it very interesting to browse through the fan sites for the TV show "Lost". I can honestly say that besides the two episodes we were required to watch for class, I have never watched the show. While I was viewing the episodes I realized that there is a lot more to the show than what I had previously expected. I remember when the show first came out and took the country by storm. I'm not quite sure why I did not watch the show, because I certainly do not boycott television by any means. Perhaps I was just to busy at the time to being watching another time consuming program. Whenever I talk to someone about "Lost" the first thing they say to me is that in order to understand it you have to watch every episode from the beginning. I think this can be a good and bad aspect to a program, or even a piece of literature for that matter. I think it is important that a story encompasses the viewer/reader but also comes at an easily accessible form. I think it would take a lot of persuasion now for me to go back and start watching the series. There is a certain turn-off element to a series that needs to be watched in its entirety, especially one so long and time consuming. However, I can understand why the die hard fans are so enveloped in the show.

Fans

To me, it is no surprise how influential Lost has been on its viewers and how dedicated they are to the show. Lost is much different than the "usual" television drama series; it plays with your mind and perspective on reality. Some people are lost in books, some in movies, and others in television series. No matter what you become lost in, most people have the same sort of dedication and/or obsession. I think it has to do with peoples’ necessity to know things. Some people will do just about anything to get an answer, to know everything about everyone, no matter how unimportant. Why do we do this though? Where is this obsession stemming from?

Fan Fiction

I was pretty interested when looking on the fan sites for Lost. I honestly can say before this class I never watched an episode or had any desire to watch the show. I guess I'm one of those people that if I don't start watching a show at the beginning I have a hard time trying to get into it in the middle or end. It was interesting to read my classmates blogs before me, and one thing that really stood out to me was that one of them had mentioned not really being obsessed with anything but than really thinking about it and realizing they check the gossip sites and various other sites daily. I had the same thought thinking wow how can these people be soooo into a show. Then I took a moment and realized that I am on my phone ALL the time, I check my email and especially facebook probably 50 times a day. I guess I can't really judge people for being so into a show when I myself have my own vices. I think as a human being it is good to form connections with people or even shows, but I start to worry when people start to bring that show into real life and they have a hard time accepting that it doesn't translate.

Fan Fiction

First off, I did not want to read very far into the fan sites for Lost for the fact of there were spoiler alerts all over and I honestly and starting to get hooked on Lost! I didn't really read very far into the parts that had spoiler alerts, but from what I did read, it is almost as if these people escape into another world when they are thinking about Lost. It reminds me of in the beginning of the semester, a lot of people had shared that they like a good book because the reader can "escape" into it. I hadn't really thought about it that way for a television series until I looked at these pieces. This could totally be an outlet or escape for a lot of people. I thought it was neat to see that connection between a good book and this television series.

Paranoia

I was particularly interested in the differences between fan hobby and fan life. To question whether fan analysis or fan participation in art is trite play or serious creative activity is a corollary of the division between academic and popular culture. Again we are asked to draw a line, but where? Considering Lost, I think we have to concede that fandom influences, albeit perhaps latently, the show's progression. Writers, especially screen writers, must examine their audience. But as writers, they cannot sacrifice their creative vision for the show to appease a fickle crowd. Where do you draw that line? How much do you compromise?

Fan Fiction and Saper

Reading through Lost's fan sites wasn't anything necessarily surprising to me, since I've been exposed to fan obsession for as long as I can remember. That in and of itself is an interesting topic, but it's for another time. The way I understand sites and fan logic such as that which surrounds Lost is that it starts as something different and less intense than it ends up as. I understand being a fan of something. I understand believing characters and having a flicker of hope that they exist, in some form, somewhere. I think what happens is a snowball effect. Saper explains that fan fiction started as a way to converse about science fiction, and gradually became more about the fans themselves. With momentum and increasing popularity, fictional stories become obsessions.

People love to connect. Even when people say that the increase in social networking over the Internet leads to impersonal interaction, it still allows for people to make relationships, and many of them. So it makes sense that people cling to characters that are either like themselves, unlike themselves, or in situations they can relate to. I don't think obsessive fans are necessarily trying to find an escape from real life, but allowing themselves to give in completely to imagination. I don't think it is a completely healthy habit, and it is somewhat perplexing the degrees to which fans take their research, but it is not an idea that completely baffles me.

Lost fan site and Saper

After looking at the Lost fan site and reading Craig Saper’s “A Fan’s Paranoid Logic,” it was interesting to see how fans react to certain things that interests them. Some devote their lives to studying and understanding a topic that it almost seems to be a “reality” for them. I find it weird how some people would tell “crazy fans” to get a life, but this thing that they have become so engulfed in is their life. The fan stories become a story in of itself. I think that fans become so absorbed into a certain text because it provides them with a world in which they can control. Sometimes fan input can change a story and how it plays out. It’s also interesting how an actor/actress’s role can be used to portray that individual in real life although it may not be true. Fandom, as for anything else, can have its good side and its bad.

Fan Fiction

While reading the various submissions of fan fiction on the “Lost” message board, my initial thoughts were ones of “Thank God I haven’t become that obsessed with anything”. But that’s a complete lie. I’m entirely guilty of checking the gossip sites and various websites dedicated to potential spoilers of my favorite shows next episode. As a culture, we become especially fascinated with the lives we never had but always wanted. When we watch these shows, whether they be trashy melodramas or surreal sci-fi’s, we can’t help but think “Well, if I were there, this is what I would have done”. The development of fan fiction allows the fangirls and fanboys in all of us to release all of our obsessive fascinations. The increasing popularity of fan fiction feeds into our desire to be a part of these alternate “realities”. As Saper mentions in “A Fan’s Paranoid Logic”, these shows we fantasize over have become symbiotically related to the fan fiction dedicated to them. What better way to please fans than give them exactly what they request. Fan fiction becomes less of an obsessive outlet and more of a set of possibilities.

Fan Fiction

This week we looked at two episodes of Lost and were asked to read Craig Saper's essay "A Fan's Paranoid Logic," as well as some fan forums. After reading Saper's essay I immediately thought about comic con and all of the other conventions that occur and it made me think about how devoted people can be towards the shows, movies, etc. in which they read or watch. It got me thinking about how many people may just be devoted fans, but there are always those select few who take their fandom to an extreme, people such as stalkers. This week has been really interesting for me because I am a fan of Lost, but also because I am learning about fan culture and it's relationship to the television industry right now in another class. In an article I read for that class it talked about Lost and how it uses the obscured television strategy. This strategy is the one in which writers and producers expect viewers and fans to come up with their own ideas. This is where reading the fan forums comes in, because these forums allow fans to communicate with one another, as well as the show creators, about their ideas of what is happening on the island or what they think should become a storyline. Before taking my Television Studies course I never really thought that creators and writers looked at fan forums, but after reading articles and from the discussions in class, I've learned that a lot of times they do listen. This just makes me wonder if any of the situations on Lost have come up because of fan ideas.

Fan Fiction

Nowadays it seems like practically everyone is a fan of something. The extent to which a person goes with being a fan is what sets them apart. There are fans and then there are those hardcore 100% devoted fans. I know I have and I'm sure everyone can say they are guilty of laughing at some of these fans who seem to be more obsessed with these celebrities, movies, TV shows, etc. I have never heard of fan fiction before so it was interesting reading all the fan theories on Lost fan sites. Because of these fan sites, fans are able to write their own unique versions of the show they love so much. Lost obviously has a huge fan base which we can tell from because of its success. Lost is one of those shows that has to be watched religiously for everything to make sense, now like other shows where each episode is totally different from the one before.

Fan Fiction

This week we are focusing on the series 'Lost' and watched a few episodes for monday and now we read an article about fans. The article by Saper was interesting because of the topic. I am interested in the fandom of different things and actually wrote a paper about it a couple years ago. I found it interesting how different fans of different things behave in different ways. Also it is interesting how fans have changed their behaviors over the years. Fans have become more accustomed to knowing more and more about their given artist or celebrity because of the internet and how easy it is to get information about almost anything. Fan culture changes in every group and depending on the group you can have many different opinions about things. It was interesting reading some of the fan theories and questions becuase I followed Lost for a few seasons but haven't kept up on it and I liked reading the different opinions and crazy questions people had. I am interested to see what we will talk about next class because there are many different ways to look at the fandom of Lost.

Fan Ficton

The Craig Saper except was interesting. I feel like I've heard of Ray Johnson once before but I had no idea who he was. He sounds interesting. I thought what he said about super fans was interesting, and what the line between fan and artist is. I think that people just get so wrapped up in celebrity or other artists lives that they start believing it is their own. I also thought that the whole idea of a fan was a market ploy. It makes total sense, I never thought of it before. One of the "Lost" discussions I read was about the Desmond episodes and how his time travel/ slip of consciousness works. It pretty much discussed everything we talked about in class.

Lost and Saper

This week we had to read Craig Saper’s essay “A Fan’s Paranoid Logic.” This essay is about Ray Johnson, an instigator of fan followings. After reading this essay, I thought about all of the other obsessed fans that are followers and behave inappropriately. When I compare this essay to real life, I think about how all of the other extreme fans would probably do these actions as well. Watching the rest of the Lost episodes still confused me because I don’t really know all of the characters. I believe if I was an “extreme fan” then I’d be following all of the characters and know their background. It is difficult to watch a television show without knowing anything about it.

Lost and A Fan's Paranoid Logic

Reading “A Fan’s Paranoid Logic” touches on the idea of the celebrity and the fan. The celebrity is put on a pedestal while the fan looks up in admiration. But these lines can be blurred as Ray Johnson did in his mailings. The normal person became the artist. I saw this same concept in the “Lost” fan sites. By writing these theories, the fans in essence became the writers of their own version of “Lost,” and by posting them on the site other fans could read this alternate ending to the TV show and respond to it. This allows the reader to take part in the series, which could possibly be why there is such a large “Lost” following. As it says in “A Fan’s Paranoid Logic,” “the distinction between artists and speculators blurs not because of the open-endlessness of interpretation, but because of the effort to build in interactive gamelike structures of discovery and play” (36). It is a game for people to try and guess what will happen in the end.

Lost

'The Constant' and 'The Variable' brought up the idea of intricacy for me. I became very aware of the ability of visual modes of production like television and film to intertwine multiple plots. These episodes even allow for multiple time periods to be accessed without confusion. If I had seen all of the episodes beforehand and in between, I'd have less of a problem understanding what was happening. Having visuals allows the viewer to bridge gaps without needing detailed explanations. The viewer can simply see the changes in a person's appearance or setting to comprehend that there was a time shift.

I also was very aware of the reliance of this show on fan loyalty. In order for the audience to connect with Lost at all, they have to keep track of it. This is not a show like The Office or something that can be watched out of order and context. Lost's success and direction is based on the assumption that the fans will tune in every single week. Because the ratings remained high throughout the show proves that audiences knew the characters and the plot enough to believe in them and understand them.

Lost

While watching these two episodes of Lost “The Constant” and “The Variable” I was as captivated as I was confused. The entanglement of people and events was especially confusing from one episode to the other because I haven’t watched the other seasons or the episodes in between. However, the themes of consciousness and reality seem like they’re pretty dominant in the entire series; it is difficult to tell what is real and if people are conscious or not when events are happening. When I started to think about it, I realized that Lost was initially a written text before it became a television show. Knowing this, I wonder how different reading Lost would be from watching it. You know the quote: “You gotta see it to believe it?” Well I can only imagine how much harder it would be to distinguish the reality (consciousness) of the plot from unreality without the visuals of the show. When your imagination is responsible for determining the realities of events, the possibilities are so much broader.

Lost and Saper

Extremism of fans over a television show, novel or film is usually something that is laughed at or dismissed without further thought by the masses today. However what goes into such a following is deserving of much more than a mere glossing over. Craig Saper in his essay “A Fan’s Paranoid Logic” informs the reader about the instigator of fan followings, Ray Johnson. His life was one of interesting occurrences and odd practices which concluded with his suicide which some over-evaluated and found numerical and mathematical references. I found this difficult to accept and cannot agree with his abnormal behavior, which makes all other dedicated fans seem as if they too will be prone to such actions.

"Lost" Episodes

I’m glad I’m not completely alone when it comes to being, well, lost while watching “Lost”. While I’m not really up to date on all of the character’s backgrounds and story lines, I was still able to appreciate the concept of the episodes. After watching the last episode for class, I went into watching “Lost” with this notion of “science-fiction” in mind. Since the other episode dealt with the idea of consciousness, a concept I find very interesting, I hope that these episodes would follow a similar suit. With an idea like time travel, creators can get a little to fantastical and far-fetched for my liking; however, “Lost” seems to do a good job of creating these surreal scenarios in a very tangible manner.

Lost Epidodes

I've alway been pretty interested in Lost, but I've never had the time to devote to it to properly appreciate it. But whenever I watch an episode i'm always impressed with the complexity of each episode. There is a storyline and then so much more going on. Episodes of lost are such a rich text, especially the episodes "The Constant" and "The Variable" that we watched for class this week. The questio. Of time travel is so interesting to think about. In episodes of lost you don't really know if what you are watching actually happened. I think how we percieve time is kinda like that. How do we know what is real and happening right now? What is consciousness?

Lost

I’ve never seen an episode of Lost so I felt lost when I was watching this because I had no idea who everybody was and what their “background” was. I felt like these two episodes were good but then again, I don’t know what is “good” for the TV show Lost. . I’ve connected these two episodes a lot with The Inventions of Morel. It was interesting to watch these two episodes because I was watching it from a point where I didn’t know what was going on instead of watching it from the perspective of knowing every character. I’m excited to see what perspective this TV show is going to take on time travel.

Lost

Initially when I was watching Lost, I was super confused. I ended up finding a link on the website where it was playing the episode with extra information about what was happening at the bottom. It was extremely helpful! It kept explaining the connections between the things, people or places in Lost with important things that have happened in history. Lost started making MUCH more sense when I found this out. I feel like we were told to watch this to see the infinite possibilities that can be all intertwining and overlapping in one piece of literature all at the same time. It must have taken an extreme amount of brain power to put together only one episode of lost, let alone multiple seasons.

Lost

I have never seen an episode of Lost before, which makes me feel like I'm just about the only person in the world who hasn't. Many of my friends really like the show and every once in awhile I'll hear them talking about how good it is. I have always wanted to see an episode, but have never gotten around to it, so I was excited to find out we would be watching Lost for class. I found the similarities between Lost and "The Invention of Morel" very interesting and they became very obvious after awhile. The episodes we watched both centered around the theme of time travel. It was kind of nice how even though I have never seen an episode before, these episodes had a way of filling me in on what I had been missing. In "The Constant" I liked the connections that were made between the flashbacks and what was happening in the present. I'm interested in discussing these episodes in class this week.

Lost

I started watching Lost this year after my friend convinced me to. Therefore, when I learned that part of our assignment would be to watch some episodes from the show, I was really excited. I didn't know that "The Invention of Morel" was what some of Lost was based off of but now every time I watch Lost, I can't help but see some of the parallels the two have. Looking at the episodes "The Constant" and "The Variable," we see this idea of time travel and illusions. In "The Constant," we as viewers are taken on a journey with Desmond, through his flashbacks and having watched the show, this episode cleared up some questions I had about Desmond, but if I wasn't a regular viewer, I think the thing that would strike me the most about this episode is the idea destiny and its relationship to time. In "The Variable," we are taken on a journey through Faraday's perspective and once again we see that destiny and time play a key role with one another. This got me thinking back to "The Invention of Morel," because it made me look at the machine that supposedly created images of these people and how the fugitive believed them to be real. This led me to be even more confused about Lost because having seen a lot of the episodes you are never sure what will happen or even if by the end of the series, what we saw actually occurred. I am definitely looking forward to discussion this week and reading the fan fiction to see what some other perspectives may pop up.

Lost

The two episodes of lost were really great, I've never watched the show religiously so it is interesting to watch specific episodes that tie in together without knowing what is all going on. I think it kind of helps not knowing what is going on because you can focus more on one single problem instead of the five hundred other problems I hear that go on in this show. The whole idea of time travel is an interesting topic in on of itself. I feel like Faraday should have never existed at all if his mother killed him 30 years prior. All be it I have no clue about the rules and regulations behind time travel. I'm real interested to see what fan ficton is written about these episodes. I'm sure people have taken some intriguing perspectives on this.

Lost

I love 'Lost' so I was particularly excited for this week because we get to watch a few episodes and talk about it. I love that it can take the most simple topic of being stranded on an island and get the viewer so into the story. I love the suspense that the series has and when you watch it you just have to keep watching because you want to know what happens next. In the episodes that we watched for this week the idea of time travel and free will are put to the test and presented in an interesting way. Before watching these from class I had watched them when they first were on TV and it was interesting the different things that I thought about and noticed the first time watching it and watching it again. I thought a lot more about the ideas of time and the interesting connections of these episodes and The Inventions of Morel.

"The Constant" and "The Variable"

The popular TV series “Lost” is known for its ability to confuse and disorient its viewers by introducing twists and hard to comprehend plot elements in a fashion that seems random to anyone who has not viewed the episodes regularly. I am one of such people, and upon viewing episode 5 from season 4 titled “The Constant” and episode 14 from season 5 titled “The Variable” I can admit that I am thoroughly baffled. The idea of time travel as well as destiny is certainly something that is hard to wrap one’s mind around, and “Lost” does a fine job of construing any further thought processes. Nevertheless, such entertainment is a fine example of events that spurn discussion in which I am thrilled to be a part of and look forward to in the upcoming class.

Lost: "The Constant" and "The Variable"

I haven’t really been following “Lost,” but watching these two episodes pique my interest. I did find some parts a bit difficult to follow because I hadn’t seen some of the previous episodes that they were referring to, but I think that the episodes do stand on their own very well. I liked how in “The Constant” they connected things between the flashbacks and present time (Desmond talking on the phone, using the sink, etc.) This gave the effect of time not being linear but moving in multiple directions at once. In “The Variable” I found the flashbacks to be a bit more haphazard possibly because I could not grasp which time was the present.

Lost episodes

This week we are watching episodes of Lost, particularly season 4 episode 5 “The Constant” and season 5 episode 14 “The Variable.” These episodes were very interesting considering that I haven’t been keeping up with the TV show. The thing that fascinates me is that even though I haven’t been watching the previous seasons or episodes, the episodes that we watched did a good job in filling me in on what was going on. Lost is a great show that does well in building suspense and makes the viewers want to watch more to know what is going to happen to the characters. At times it was hard to tell if what the characters were seeing was actually real, similar to that of the character in The Invention of Morel. The story seems complex, but I guess that’s what makes it so exciting.

Variable Constants

Lost, in general, questions if we have free will or if free will is an illusion. These two episodes focus specifically on the same idea in another context, which is time travel. Farhaday in particular struggles with question of changing what already happened. Of course changing the past or the future depends on perspective and how that perspective will shift as the survivors attempts to alter, or not alter, the past. What is interesting is how quickly everyone forgets their own perspective, their own choices. Sawyer is most upset when Jack and Kate return. He forgot about the choices they all can make.

The Activist cont.

I enjoyed "The Activist". I liked how it was written and I liked the possible outcomes of America it brought up. It really reminded me of an pre "1984" condition. What America would be like before a total totalitarian takeover. Although I was confused as to what the group was doing, were they just protesting, like a march, or were they doing a more active protest? I would assume it was more active seeing as everyone was nervous beforehand. The Calvino speech was good as well. I liked when he was talking about everyone trying to find something human in political literature. I also thought it was interesting that the 1968 hippies didn't like the passiveness of political literature and they wanted to take a more pro-active role.

The Activist

The second half of The Activist seemed almost more confusing than the first half. The format seemed to change a little; towards the end, the poetry made it difficult to determine who was narrarting/thinking and when. Also, there were short prashes with periods at the end and statements with question marks-it all made it sort of hard to follow. By the end of the book, I was so caught up in trying to figure out who was narrating that I couldn't tell you what was going on and/or the purpose of this book. I think the paranoia that disturbed the activists so much was twisted into the book so much that even the reader becomes paranoid trying to establish what is real vs. unreal. Finally, I noticed that the missing bridge that was the focal point of the first half of the book faded and turned into missing towers-the towers and the President's declare on war reminded me of 9.11.

The Activist and Calvino

I feel like every piece that I read this semester breaks all previous views of what I understood and was taught literature to be. After reading The Activist as well as everyone's blog posts, and the Calvino piece, I really feel like maybe society just expects too much from an author. I know I say it a lot, but everything that I think about I relate it to autism. What if the author intended the reader to not following what they were writing? What if the author knows that what they are writing only makes sense to them in their head and they're okay with that? A lot of times with autistic people, they just don't think about things the way most people do. It is different and they are just okay with that. Why can't most readers just accept a piece the way it is?

The Activist and Calvino

I felt as though the second half of The Activist did not clarify a whole lot for me from the first part. It seemed to be even more confusing or maybe just complex. I found it hard to follow the dialogue and know who was speaking. However, there was a part from Italo Calvino’s reading where he says that what the society demands of writers today is for them to speak out and voice their opinions and concerns rather than keeping it silent. In correlation of this idea to the book, the activists in the book were trying to voice their opinions and take action, but as Calvino said it’s keeping ones voice low while using modest and doubtful tones that will make everyone hear what he/she has to say. The activists were so caught up in taking action and voicing themselves that paranoia and fear could have possibly led to the demise of their plan, but as the speaker in the last chapter mentioned, they shouldn’t take action and maybe just forget about their plan. Truthfully, I’m still somewhat confused about the bridge.

The Activist & Calvino

Unfortunately, after reading the second half of The Activist I was still left confused. I felt that the second part wasn't any clearer than the first, which I was hoping would be the coincidence. Part of the reason I was left confused was because I still had so many questions left unanswered. The ending didn't ever give the answer to my questions and it certainly didn't give any closure. Although the novel was confusing, I guess it was a good read in that I was able to read a form that I am not familiar with. Calvino's piece was interesting to me though. He showed the relationship between politics and literature, which I strongly feel are two totally different things. I did agree with his argument that literature gives a voice to the people who are possibly too shy or don't feel like speaking out loud. After reading his piece it did make me think more in depth about the relationship between literature and politics.

The Activist 2

After completing this book I was left with many questions. in class on Monday we discussed how the book was written, and how that had an affect on the way we perceive the story as readers/writers. It seems that in the second portion of the book Gladman takes on a more formal writing style, as opposed to the first half where she inserts news articles, and thoughts. I really enjoyed how the author made it seem as if the reader was inside the minds of the characters. When the words were italicized I imagined them being said and repeated in the head of a particular activist. I think this book was able to create a lot of suspense, confusion, and anxiety in me. I enjoy when a piece of literature has the power to take me through so many different emotions, but still hold my attention. I come away from The Activist wondering if there was ever really a bridge, what the hell that map was up to, and if this book has any ties with the attacks on 9/11. I could be entirely wrong but towards the end of the book I thought that the disaster the activists kept referencing could have been the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

The Activist and Calvino

This English class seems to be coinciding perfectly with my creative writing class as in today’s class we were discussing Italo Calvino and his work with constraint based writing. When I saw the title of Calvino’s excerpt, I was expecting a different, more politically aggressive tone to his writing. However, in “Right and Wrong Political Uses of Literature”, Calvino addresses the fact that he tends to place literature and politics in completely separate categories. While I am able to acknowledge social commentary in literature when I see it, I generally tend to think of literature as being simply literary and politics and political and the two to not be completely intertwined. Something Calvino said that really struck me was “Politics, like literature, must above all know itself and distrust itself” (100). In order to progress, we must know and understand our flaws in both literature and politics. Innovation only happens when we understand what is impeding growth.

The Activist part 2

This week we are reading the novel The Activist by Renee Gladman. This novel is interesting because it is all about paranoia and perspective. The thought of a bridge or not is the main subject of the book, but this does not begin to describe the differences in perspective in this story. I found this book interesting because it actually kind of made scence to me because of all the paranoia. I found myself thinking about all the paranoia that people have about different things in real life. Also I thought about the different perspectives that were given in the book and I found them very helpful because without the use of changing up the perspective and how the book is written the author would not have gotten her point across. I thought that the other reading we had to do for today was good at bringing the idea of politics and literature and how they affect each other. I am interested to see how others liked the book.

The Activist and Calvino

The second part of Renee Gladman's novel, "The Activist," was still pretty confusing to me, but that is also why I was so intrigued by it. The way in which she wrote the novel drew me in right away because it was written in a format that I have never seen in a novel before and it made it an interesting and compelling way to write the story she was trying to tell. It was interesting to see the way in which the novel turned by the end of the story as well because the activists turn away from their war on the administration to turning inward and creating a war with each other. While reading this I felt as though what Gladman was doing with her novel was illustrating a metaphor of the current situation in the U.S, while also taking a look at situations in which a government has their own agenda and civil liberties are at stake. While reading the Calvino excerpt, “Right and Wrong Political Uses of Literature," he talks about the relationship between literature and politics. This was interesting to me because I never really thought of those two things going together but after reading "The Activist," it should how complex of a relationship they can have because literature represents a form of free speech and expression to me. It gives a voice to those that never chose to speak up or are never heard. Gladman illustrated this in her novel by allowing everyone in the book to have a voice, which in away was confusing but looking more closely at it I noticed that it really just illustrates our world today and all of the different opinions and beliefs that arise everyday in different situations.

The Activist and Calvino

The second part of “The Activist” was not much clearer to me than the first part had been. I did understand more about the journalist though, and how she was searching for answers to what really happened. The ending was also different from most of the stories I have read. It did not really give a sense of closure to the story at all. Was the bridge destroyed? Was there even a bridge? Why was the map changing? What did the note say? The story seems to bring up more questions than it answers, which can be the same thing that happens when someone looks deeper into an event, especially when trying to piece together conflicting views. “Right and Wrong Political Uses of Literature” was a bit more straightforward. It showed the complex relationship between politics and literature and how literature can give a voice to people who would otherwise be without one. It seemed like “The Activist” tried to give everyone a voice, but in doing so created this confusing web of accounts of the situation.

Calvino and The Activist

Today we had to read part of “The Activist” and Calvino. When reading “The Activist” I found that Renee Gladman linked politics and literature together when she writes in a way that the readers get the story through thoughts and conversations of others. This is a different kind of writing because you don’t usually read novels that are written like this. What interested me was when Calvino stated that literature and politics are linked together. Personally, I see politics and literature as two completely different things. I think its interesting that these two pieces connected in such a way that I don’t think connect.

Political Uses of Literature

I felt the essay resonated particularly well within our contemporary society when the person heard is often the loudest and the value of what they are saying is more or less ignored. The idea that the strength of language comes from its modesty, its ability to travel beneath the radar is refreshing in that reason, true reason can be heard below all the platitudes. Frankly, I've never seriously considered the political implications of literature before this essay. I always knew those implications existed, but I never gave them more than a passing glance. I suppose I felt the two did not belong together.

The Activist

The Activist by Renee Gladman, was a suprise to me when I first opened up the cover. I hadn't thought that the book would be written in such a different format from the other books we had read in class. The reading itself was simple due to the way the book was composed, however, trying to understand everything that Gladman is trying to say in the book, is where it becomes difficult. I had to re read things a few times to try and understand the meaning and even then sometimes I wasn't quite sure. It was helpful to discuss what we had read in groups during todays class, and what other people thought about the book and how they interperated the writing. I also enjoyed discussing the ideas of paranoia and perspective both in the text and in comparing the text to the clip we watched in class.

The Activist and Calvino

Literature and politics seem to me to be two separate entities that interact in a very limited fashion. Italo Calvino states that both are linked and affect each other frequently. An instance of such a connection is Renee Gladman’s novel “The Activist” in which she creates her writing in terms of only receiving the story through the thoughts, actions, and conversations of the characters. This element only emphasizes the high level of political charge present through the opinions and emotions of the protagonists. In my reading of Gladman’s book however, I found it difficult to think along the same lines as the characters due to differences in political opinion.

The Activist

I really like the almost truncated nature of the activist. It reads like a news statement, especially the beginning. That style I think asks a lot the reader, it trusts the reader's ability to connect narrative sections with little or no contextual help. Thus the reader must be actively engaged in the text and reading becomes an active engagement, not merely a passive activity. That active engagement requires the reader to develop a political perspective within the piece. Their opinion of the writing and the book in general will change depending on their political bias.

The Activist

I really enjoyed reading the first half of The Activist. I liked how the story was written in a poetic format, it makes the story interesting and easy to follow. I think any other format would have taken away from this story. I also noticed how every other chapter seems to switch format and some have page numbers where others don't. I'm interested to see if this has a purpose in the plot of the story and how it relates. So far, the story reminds me of The Invention of Morel and that story where the guy turns into a beetle because of the relationships between dreams and reality. It is really difficult to tell what is reality in this book not only in the narrator's situations but also in the argument about the bridge; I'm interested to see how the story ends.

The Activist

This week we had to read the first half of “The Activist” by Renee Gladman. The beginning was really weird for me because I was totally lost and confused and had no idea what was going on. In a way though, this made me want to keep reading because I didn’t want to be lost and confused anymore, I wanted to know what was going on and what was happening. This book, I felt, was written in a really weird way. It went from being conversational and then switched to something else. It was interesting that we were able to view the dialogue through the thoughts of the protagonist. I’m excited to keep on reading the rest of the book because I don’t really know where it’ll go in the end.

The Activist and New Narrative

I loved the way that The Activist was written. The void of having numbered pages in such an odd way was so interesting! It reminded me of the book called The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime which is written in the mind of an autistic child. He numbers the pages according to his love for prime numbers. It also slightly reminded of my creative project, which also had to deal with the thoughts of autistic children. I like things that vary from the status quo, just like this piece. I feel like that is what really brings the reader in for wanting more. When something is unusual, we take note, it is human nature. I look forward to what the rest of this book has to offer.

The Activist and New Narritive

The Activist was really interesting to me, really, the whole new narrative concept is interesting. I like how the story is written almost like a poem but not really. I also like that it has a plot and story line to it, with thought provoking ideas on politics and society. The poem like structure makes it a lot easier to read too, makes you feel more accomplished as you go along. I found it interesting that the whole new narrative wave is taking place in one specific area. I'm sure it's expanded to other parts of the country but I thought it was interesting that it was so concentrated to one part of the country. I guess it makes sense though.

New Narrative and The Activist

The structure of Renee Gladman’s The Activist is really what initially drew my attention to the book. The short fragmented thoughts accompanied by the block paragraphs on unnumbered pages are a vastly different take on the traditional novel. So far in the reading, the feeling of time is very disjointed. I get the impression that the unnumbered pages are happening simultaneously but separate from the thoughts of the narrator. Also, having large chunks of pages with no numbers really plays with my personal sense of time when reading.
The article accompanying the reading talks about the movement of the New Narrative. It seems to emphasis the socio-cultural aspects of literature and the active involvement of the audience in the piece they are writing. This theme seemed cohesive with Gladman’s in The Activist as she seemed to be writing in a matter that incorporated the audience into the piece.

The Activist & New Narrative

Like many other people, after reading the first half of Renee Gladman's book I was left feeling a little confused. Not only was I confused after reading it but I even started off the novel being confused. I found it kind of funny though because this confusion was the thing that kept me wanting to read more. When I got confused about something I just wanted to keep reading to see if I could figure it out. This idea of the new narrative that is displayed in The Activist is a new concept to me. Unlike many other stories the reader is only getting information through thoughts and dialogue. The author is only sharing parts. I'm not sure yet how I feel about this style of writing. Sometimes it's very interesting and puzzle-like but sometimes it's frustrating to me because I just want to flat out know the details. Hopefully in discussing in class and finishing the novel all of my confusion will be cleared up.

The Activist

This week we were asked to read the first half of Renee Gladman's "The Activist." At first, like other classmates, I was rather confused about what exactly was happening. The confusion I felt though was also what intrigued me about the story because it kept me turning the pages to try and decipher what exactly was going on within the work. Another aspect that kept me thoroughly engaged was the constantly changing texts. The book is a clear example of what experimenting with form can look like. With one chapter being conversational and the next looking as though a newspaper was cut up. This book to me seems like it is somewhat a critique of political reality shown through distorted newspaper prose. The man question so far seems to be whether or not a city bridge has been bombed and destroyed or not. The first feeling I got from this book was that of paranoia and it seemed to me like all of the text dealt with perceptions instead of evidence. Overall I'm very interested in seeing where this story will end up.

The Activist and New Narrative

The writing style emphasized by the New Narrative movement and evident in Renee Gladman’s novel “The Activist” serves as an unorthodox method of informing the reader of the storyline. Instead of using text to describe the setting, the audience is only allowed to view dialogue and the thoughts of the protagonist. This serves to not only distort the typical manner of reading, but also make the work seem like a detective novel with the author only sharing parts of the plot to keep them guessing. I found the style to be interesting, but also rather limited due to the vague or nonexistent description of scenes or locations of the main character.

The Activist

The Activist by Renee Gladman has a unique structure to how it was written. Reading it was rather easy; however, I wasn’t able to follow everything that they were talking about so I had to reread certain parts. This reminds me of how news stories are written. As soon as a news worthy event breaks, journalists try to report it and get the story out as fast as they can, hence the quick read. The dialogue was hard to differentiate who was speaking. What I found also interesting was how each chapter was distinguishable by the way it was written. The “Top of the Hour” chapter was written like a newspaper with excerpts pulled out. On the other hand, the chapter titled “Interrogation” was more conversational. Overall, I’m interested to see where the story will take us.

The Activist

After reading the first portion of this book I was left feeling confused. At first it seemed as is the author was writing from a stream of consciousness standpoint. However, as I continued to read it seemed like the text was continuously shifting. I think this is an interesting way of writing because it kept me in engaged in the text in order to follow the story. From what I have gathered regarding the story is the narrator was persuaded to place a bomb mechanism under a bridge. Apparently at the end of the first half of the book the narrator has been captured and is being interrogated by the secret service. I feel confused about the text because of how it shifts stylistically. Like I said before, this has its pros and cons. I like it because I am continuously engaged in the text, but also have a hard time following the story because of all the different ways it is being told.

The Activist

This week we are reading a new book called The Activist by Renee Gladman. Before reading this book I had no idea what it was about and so I just went into it blindly. I think that this was probably a good thing because it made me get into the story more. Even though it was a bit confusing I think I followed the storyline pretty well. I understood the different points and views of people and was able to follow the changes in people talking and figuring out the situation. I am interested to see how the other people in class react to this book because it is much different than the others we have read. This book jumped around a lot and will probably confuse many of the people in class. Even though it was a short read it was complicated because of the jumps and twists of the way it is presented.

The Activist

The first half of “The Activist” by Renee Gladman was a fast section to read, but it was not a fast section to understand. It skips from the city to the interrogation room to the activists to journalists’ commentary, which made it a bit difficult for me to understand what exactly was going on. After thinking about it for a while, I began to wonder if all the confusion in the book was done intentionally. The reader not knowing what is going on mirrors the people in the book not knowing what is going on. This seems to be some kind of criticism of our own society, where no one is sure who to believe and what is true and who is fighting who.

Flarf/conceptual art

As of right now, conceptual art is my favorite thing we have discussed so far. It just amazes me to see these works of art, and I was sitting and thinking "how come I didn't think of that?" It made me think of what I would do for a conceptual art piece, but I just kept thinking of things that have already been done. And then that made me think of my problem with the words creativity and inspiration. I believe they are total paradoxes and don't really exist, but then I had another thought. I finally came to the conclusion that true inspiration is all about spontaneity and anything after is just imitation. An extreme example I discussed with group was me picking up my laptop and throwing it against the wall. No explanation, just an action. If anyone else threw something it would just be coping my action and not really being creative or inspired. Back to conceptual art though, I like how it ties back in with the idea of restraints. To be a conceptual artist you have "think outside the box" while at the exact same time your art is the box. Meaning the art you make has that ordinary feel, but the whole thing was planned to be like that. So like a novel like A Void in itself is like a piece of conceptual art. Perec writes a novel, not so uncommon, but the added element of the missing E makes it a piece of work. It's so interesting and completely complex to try and think of new conceptual piece.


This is my attempt at a flarf poem

English-Japanese (Kanji) translation for moist, fleshy fruit
ChaCha has the answer to this question:
You can do this with a lighter or match. ...
36 Hippocrates concludes that as a result of their excessively moist complexion
You wouldn't expect to find a large, fleshy, moist mushroom in the middle of the desert.

Flarf, Arf, Arf, Arf! (Part 3)

Flarf, Arf, Arf, Arf! (Part 3)

New Narrative

I had mixed feelings on the first half of Renee Gladman's The Activist. I really liked the short paragraphs about the bridge and whatever state is happened to be in but I wasn't fond of the parts trying to figure out whether they were dreaming, on drugs, or what. The manipulation of the media was what really intrigued me about the bridge sections and how people will lie just to prove their own point. As a whole I liked the form of the new narrative a lot and how it blends story telling with poetry.

Flarf

So I didn't really understand how I was supposed to compose this assignment but now that we discussed it in class I now get it...

Bitches be crazy..

Any female that has more emotional problems than Latoya Jackson.

He leaned in and said 'Son, Bitches is Crazy.'

As time passed, I've realized the wisdom of this simple phrase.

When the ladies in my life start displaying ...

When we demand social justice, women are often called a crazy bitch.

Just goes to show you conservative men lack both imagination and decent comeback lines. ...

SHE DID WHAT?! Share your encounters with crazy bitches.

Flarf is Dionysus. Conceptual Writing is Apollo. by Kenneth Goldsmith : Poetry Magazine [article/magazine]

Flarf is Dionysus. Conceptual Writing is Apollo. by Kenneth Goldsmith : Poetry Magazine [article/magazine]

Flarf

These pieces were very interesting. I thought that the language in the K. Salem Mohammed pieces were really cool. I liked the deer poems a lot, and it seems fitting being in Wisconsin and reading a poem about deer. I thought that the "My Angie Dickinson" was interesting too, another intriguing thing especially after reading "My Emily Dickinson". The "The Anger Scale" piece really seemed like a poem to me, but still conceptual as well. I enjoyed the K. Salem Mohammed pieces the best, they were the most entertaining to read.

Crusty Bodyparts

Activity 2 - Observing the Physical Characteristics of Ol' Crusty
crust-ah: crusty body parts (any and all body parts)
dumb-ah: an idiot
freak-ah: a freak
big-ah: a fat person
ah ass suffix southern words dirtah ...
My question, Dear Crusty, is: Why do people name certain, ahem, fun body parts and not other, more mundane parts?
... is pretty much wasted energy because our beauty will fade, we will get old and crusty, body parts will fail and then the body will die. ...

Flarf

I thought that the Conceptualists were kind of out there but the Flarfs are pretty crazy. I really enjoyed Gary Sullivan's "Original Flarf." It seemed like his poem "Mm-Hmm" was just all the things rolling around in his head. I think it's a lot harder to write those things down than people think. I really liked the google poems we had to write. They are like the modern Dada poems of our time. It's fun to play around with things you find and make them into something else.

Gorgeous Waste

Gorgeous Blue Waste Can is for Cool Offices Only

Best Green Home Tips... Down with Hoarding... Gorgeous Waste of Time

Reduce waste, gorgeous Karma

Royal Waste of Gorgeous Visuals!

waste not, want not.

....what a waste of time....

Flarf

Interesting. At some point the words seem to just lose meaning and I feel like I'm struggling to invent it on the fly from contrasting symbols.

"Uxoricidal Thunderstorm"

the murder of one's wife ... a reference to Franklin's experiment of flying a kite in a thunderstorm ...By the way, I wonder how many folks out there have ever seen the
rinsable carbophilous edriasteroidea standpat eulamellibranch uxoricidal ugsomeness

Flarf

I love the randomness that is happening in a lot of the pieces everyone put together! I also enjoyed that same feeling for the readings for today. When I initially had looked up the words wet and back together into Google, a few things came up that I was not exactly expecting. This is what I had gotten out of it:
Wetback:
Those crazy Valley People,
Journey across the wet waters.
So rude, those wild coyotes!
They get in your way
and are an extreme nuisance to all Americans.

But really, what is it?
Why it is the moist gunk which appears in the corner of your eye after a long nights rest.

I loved that even doing something so simple like what we did with Google, it can still pull up something other than what was initially thought of, random.

Flarf

I really enjoyed the readings for today. The poems seem so randomly put together that you really have to think about what the author had in mind while creating them. As we talked about on Monday, “uncreative” writing really requires an understanding of the author’s process and initial ideas. I definitely believe, however, that flarf is not “uncreative;” it’s most definitely a creative form of art that allows the author to combine both his ideas with other peoples’ to develop something new with completely different, totally abstract, plural meanings.
Here’s the poem I put together…
The Crazy Suburban Mom

When I was a little bit younger
Teenage problems
Stay at home
I can through prayer
Teenage problems
Tackle the remote
Teenage problems
One hip mom
Put a piece of masking tape
on the bottom of her shoe
Sounds like you've caught on to the most important part of the problem
Slippery slope, this parenting gig
You have the right attitude
Have you tried a good chiropractor?

Flarf

This week we are focusing on conceptualism and for Wednesday’s class we are taking a look at flarf poetry. I think that this form of poetry is very interesting because it is not like the usual poems that we may be use to. It definitely presents the readers with a different way of looking at poetry and how to interpret it. The uniqueness of its form is simple yet fun and creates a opportunity for the imagination to illustrate the images. Flarf poems unlike the traditional rhyming poems that I am use to, has less of a ring to the ears but it is still present.

Here is one of that I created:

Thoughtless imaginations!
The slipstream of thoughtless thoughts...
Deep into the depths
of many people
A serious oversight
And the wonder is that they persistently cling to this futile hope
Saying hurtful things
although it revolves around machines
versus purely his imagination
wordless poet.

Flarf

I have worked with flarf a lot previously and it has become one of my favorite forms of writing. I really appreciate the creativity that comes out in it even though it is a fairly passive form of writing. Its constraints and methods are really interesting to me because they are so culturally relevant and you don't have to be afraid of anything when you do it. These are a couple of flarf poems I wrote in the past:

SAY NO TO CONDOMS

Nancy puts on body lotion all over her pregnant belly
Just punch her in the stomach instead, a gas pipe
Doctors believed at first that it was a penis
that made a sound described as a “wounded moose
although they determined later that it was a small trunk, through which the baby could breathe




Your Heart Belongs To Jesus, But Your Ass Belongs To Me

Once aloft, the actual meat in the murder sandwich is fairly straightforward
for starters when flaccid it always appears shriveled
Slurping and licking all the cum out like
When I was zombie
Molestation is a pastime adopted by
Japanese, Michael Jackson
so was Hello Kitty

Flarf

Coincidentally, we talked about Flarf in my creative writing class today. I had never heard of this genre of writing until this past week, and now I’m on Flarf overload. As stated in the reading, Gary Sullivan devised this style of writing more of a joke than a creative outlet. He intentionally tried to make the worst, most nonsensical poem, and, well, he succeeded. While I do find it mostly hilarious that he actually submitted his satirical poem, I find it really hard to wrap my head around the idea of people’s dedication to the creation of this work. I’ll admit, it’s funny and pretty enjoyable to concoct my own Flarf poetry. But I don’t know what purpose it really serves other than this self-serving one. The irony of the whole thing is probably what impedes me from digging too far into it: making something “creative” out of someone else’s creation. Nonetheless, they can be fun to read. During my creative writing class, we made a list of 10 different Google search phrases and then wrote down a couple lines of the results. The following is the Flarf poem I came up with that is devised of about 85% direct quotes from the list of search terms and results. Enjoy.

Mama says don’t drink the Kool-Aid
when I stop and go for a drive
With your pants on the ground
and your head held high,
you will go to sleep or I
will put you to sleep.
Mama says don’t drag your butt on the ground
with your shirt of nails and your potty pants.
Mama says just say no to their rainbow of flavors
an overloaded scolding.
Mama says have a glass of shut up.

Flarf, Arf, Arf, Arf! (Part 2)

Flarf, Arf, Arf, Arf! (Part 2)

Flarf

Knowing the processes involved altered my relationship with the text. Before knowing I think I was less interested in the absurdity and humor than after knowing. I didn't take the text less seriously, rather, with the first piece I think the poems became more grave somehow, more dark. I also noticed the odd trend of sexual words being thrown into the search result vomit produced by google. This gave the poems and google, an unsettling perverse quality. Political notes resound throughout the poems as well. It would be really fascinating to discover how Google's algorithms operate in the processes described by the authors.

Here is my poem:

Marry, Fuck, or Kill Sarah Palin - Grimace

On a more spiritual note:

Sarah Palin vs Raptor Jesus? VOTE NOW!

I would chose Raptor Jesus over Sarah Palin

Any day we should violate McCain’s true

Thoughts about Windows 7

Hit the link below for more

Raptor Jesus Rave!

Flarf

This type of poetry is so interesting because as you read it, you know that there is some sort of non-traditional method behind it. The disjointed nature of the pieces allow for multiple meaning and also allow the reader to try and guess the process the writer performed. Flarf poetry doesn't seem as anti-art as DADA was, but it abandons traditional form for experimental and modern tactics. I think when using found text, writers are able to step outside themselves and use the idea of collaboration to create art. My flarf piece was pretty cool to write because I could focus on order and collage more than making sure each word was perfect and original.

I'm caught too late to catch
thick sleep
that shifts underneath you.
Snooze overlays - alarm ON.
Sleep is deadly, sleep is slippery,
sleep eludes you no matter how hard
you try
to cure extreme insomnia.
Keep him alive
by closing your eyes.

FLARF

After reading the poems for Wednesday's class, I was left feeling confused at some points. I usually like reading poems because it lets you form your own ideas for the most part, or you just have to really dig deep into the poem to find the true meaning of it. However, when I was reading Flarf's poems, I was just left confused. I felt that his poems were just jumbled up together and really had no sense of direction. I had to read the poems a couple times to make some sense of it. There were some connection I was able to make, but my question is, what makes him strive to have these poems so all over the place? Is it just a way for his reader to try to make sense of things? Maybe my thoughts will be answered in tomorrow's class.

Flarf

For Wednesday's class period we were asked to read some various poems from the "Flarf" genre. I had never encountered any type of poetry that is vaguely similar to this. It seems that flar is sort of a "stream of consciousness" way of writing poems. I think this can be a good way of writing creatively and could even be therapeutic. Even if the poems do not have a pre-determined meaning, I think the reader can take from it what they want. This is an interesting perspective of writing and can help to build a relationship between the reader and the writer. Normally when I read I understand that there is a previously determined point to the text. With flarf it is different. When I read about spooky things and messy hearts I was forced to create meaning for it on my own. After reading these flarf poems I have come up with my own. Here it goes...

Guitar strings and broken things
Wander down the hall
Emotions lie behind the door
Open up the briefcase
Be sure to separate
Options arise
Tranquil serenity
Sarcastic evasion
Opt out of work
Slide up the latter
Work shoes
Mississippi blues

Flarf

I've enjoyed reading more poems and stories lately in class than just some article. When I began reading the Flarf poems I was kind of uneasy about them - I didn't know whether or not to love them or hate them. Most of them didn't make sense at first anyways. But as I re-read them I was able to appreciate their artistic values. It was like putting a puzzle together and finding the connections between the lines. Also, this whole new idea of "anti-lit" is something very new and interesting to me. The poems we had to read for today and the stories from Monday are so different from anything I have ever read before - it's like a whole new world of literature. I especially liked Original Flarf by Gary Sullivan, it was so creative and intriguing to me. Coming up with my own flarf was extremely difficult for me. I just couldn't come up with an inappropriate word I thought would let me write a good poem. But here is what I came up with:
Celebrated profession
The leading role
Praying to heavenly bodies
For some time
escape the photographs
Obscenities
Explicit acts, words
At the same time
It’s excellent
An award
For having no artistic merit

flarf poems

This week we are looking at conceptual writing and different examples of it. I really like to read creative pieces of work instead of what we have normally been reading up until this point. Since we are focusing on conceptual writing, we had to read some writing for Wednesday on it. A lot of poetry has to do with conceptual writing and I’m not very good at coming up with my own poetry and making it sound normal while following the “rules of poetry.” When I looked at the flarf poems, I was kind of confused by them. They are all very interesting but it seemed like they were just a bunch of sentences that were all mixed up and they didn’t make sense or connect to the sentence before it.

Flarf

Last week we were asked to look at conceptual writing or "uncreative writing." For this week we were asked to look at flarf poems and the way in which they are formulated by using technology. When I first started reading the flarf poems I didn't know what to think because I had never seen poetry quite like it before. Although, as I kept reading the poems, they actually started making sense, not complete, but still I was able to see meanings within the poems. One thing I enjoyed with the poems was the use of popular culture that manifested in certain poems. An example of this being in K. Silem Mohammed's "Dear Head Nation and Breathalyzer," where he references the band Bloc party and actresses Teri Hatcher and Claire Danes. These references to pop culture made the poem seem more real to me because I was able to see these connections and how they could relate to people and their lives. We were asked to create a flarf poem of our own, here's mine:
The scenes were surreal
Floating orbs and bubbles
Knocking everything off.
I settle back into my seat.
The charming video of a
Plastic bag floating.
But the plot has an evil twist
Living their lives in frustration
Masks make up the arrogant people.

Flarf

When I first scanned the flarf poems, I wasn’t sure what to think about them. It seemed like they would be a big mess of mixed up non-sensical sentences. But when I actually started reading them I found them very interesting. They made sense in their own sort of way, more so than Berrigan’s poems did to me. I could also see all the work that must have gone into them. The way that the poets put all the found words and phrases together was interesting and creative in itself. It did not bother me so much that the words weren’t their own since they made the words their own. This is my flarf poem:
This guy way laying in front
Of a restaurant entrance in Singapore
Like an iguana at the end of its rope.
Here’s one way of celebrating fatherhood—
We were drunk.
It’s way more fun than Betty Ford
And it was Valentine’s Day.
I was a broke college student.
Frozen lizards, shocked turtles—
Can you hear the castanets?
The fire is dying like capitalism!
Dead drunk.

Uncreative Writing

This week we are focusing on conceptual writing, and last class we talked about things being uncreative. I was interested to see what we were going to read about this week because I like more creative writing rather than intellectual or conceptual writing. It was interesting reading some different things though. I have never really been a huge fan of poetry or pros writing so the readings we did for this class were not as interesting to me. Also we are asked to look up a couple words that do not go together and make a short poem about them, or a flarf poem. This was a challenge for me because I can't even remember the last time I wrote a poem, probably in high school sometime. This is my flarf poem:
The vacation of a lifetime
with all your closest friends.
Trees in the woods grow faster and faster,
by loving the sun.
With every passing day
Family business keeps going on,
through the yellow beams of light.
In the fall, all colors change
because of the time and situation at hand.
Blowing in the wind with all our cares floating by,
the day is almost done.
Our time will come.

Flarf, Arf, Arf, Arf! (Part 1)

Flarf, Arf, Arf, Arf! (Part 1)

Creative and Uncreative Writing

Before this week, I was completely unaware that there was such a writing thought to be "uncreative" writing. If I had been asked what my idea of uncreative writing was, I would have answered that all type of writing should be considered to be creative. I mean, why wouldn't it? After reading Kenneth Goldsmith's, "Sentences on Conceptual Writing", my bias changed. I began to think that perhaps writing could be considerd uncreative. Goldsmith states that, "in uncreative writing the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work"; with that said, I believe that uncreative writing is done more so for the writer, rather than the reader. The writer knows exactly what he or she is attempting to put forth while the reader may see the writing on a completely different level. Goldsmith also says that uncreative writing is meant to not have a purpose; it is meant to engage the minds of readers, and does not typically absorb them emotionally. This defines the "Traffic" almost perfectly. Personally, I found it to be rather dry and unappealing. Although, the concept of writing such a book was actually quite interesting. I had never been exposed to such a context until now. "My New Job", by Catherine Wagner was the most compelling reading to me. It was relatively scattered and unclear, but I still enjoyed it. It seemed as though the writer had spontaneous ideas jump into her head, and then she would jot them down; which I thought was kind of unique and different. Though her ideas were illogical and scattered, according to Goldsmith, that defines uncreative writing.

Flarf and an example of my own

The idea of making a genre of writing specified to using technology is an interesting concept and one that I would like to try out. By pulling excerpts from something as widespread as the internet, one can find connections to a variety of things. It is identifying those things, that appeals the most to me. I was surprised when reading through the excerpts I could draw connections to things present in my life to what I was reading despite the vast source that the text was pulled from. Whether it be making a Star Wars reference (“Jedi” in Katie Degentesh’s “The Anger Scale”) or naming a music artist (“Bloc Party” in K Silem Mohammed’s “excerpts from Deer Head Nation and Breathalyzer”) the ability to find such links was refreshing.

Flarf Poem via Google Search Results:

A person who sits on the porch

and what does it mean?

A small child that enjoys being

the term comes from the cultural behavior of

with vodka, grapefruit schnapps and lemonade.

A delicious recipe for,

a term dating back to American 17th century colonial times

Also lists similar drink recipes

and watches the neighbors.

Uncreative Writing

My favorite kind of writing is creative writing so it was hard for me to get through these readings. I want to read about things that expand my imagination, not logical reads that expand my intelligence. Those readings aren't any fun. I found Traffic to be especially boring because that's all it talked about, traffic situations. Unless my job is surrounded by traffic, I really don't want to read a whole lot about it. Craig Dworkin's piece was all about language that most people learn when they are in elementary school. That is a distant part of my memory that I want to keep distant. These works both have the boring aspect to them. Only certain readers would be really interested in these works.

Uncreative Writing

This week it seems like we are focusing our attention on writing conceptually. I think this will be a good change of pace from the various bounds and constraints that came from the Oulipo and Perec. In the excerpt from Craig Dworkin I found it interesting that he never uses anything past the literal definition of a word. He replaces actual words that would comprise a sentence with their definition. I think this is a creative way to write conceptually, but I feel it loses it's importance after just the first page or so. I found myself wondering how long could someone read this jumbled mess. I suppose conceptually the meaning of the piece does deliver. But from a aesthetical prospective it becomes boring and bland. When I read I am looking for substance and purpose. I want to gain something from the text that is before me. With Dworkin's excerpt all I could do was read meaningless words on the page. I am interested to see as to why a writer like Dworkin would take such an unusual writing style and make it his own.

Uncreative Writing

Uncreative writing strikes me as an author centric exercise meaningful to the author, but requiring rigorous analysis by a reader to understand. As an experiment in reducing writing to nothing more than a concept, I think it interesting, except how can writing ever be just an idea to the author. I guess I am assuming an emotional connection to the writing that will always compromise the purity of the idea. Emotions are unavoidable, not to say this writing has to be emotionless, it just seems the writer are desperately attempting to distill writing to concepts. What I find compelling is how difficult it must be to write uncreatively. Imagination is something we exercise our entire lives without a thought. To suppress the natural creative tendencies must be like trying not to breath.

Conceptualism/Uncreative Writing

Uncreative writing is probably the most uninteresting literature to read, yet I find the concept intensely appealing. Because uncreative writing is so abstract and emotionally dry, it is more a work of art than a form of writing. When you read a traditional/"creative" text, even one written under extreme limitations, there is some sort of meaning the reader can pull together. However, when I read these pieces for today, I had no clue what the heck the authors were talking about/trying to say. It was like reading a puzzle made of piece that are impossible to connect. But Goldsmith says that it is the author's good idea that makes uncreative writing successful. But how do we know what the author's idea was initially? And since the author's thought process is completely inaccessible, how is a reader supposed to gain anything from reading uncreative writing? "Uncreative writing is not utilitarian" so what is the purpose in writing it?

Conceptualism

The transition from the works based around constraint into those of conceptual writing made reading these very unusual works less overwhelming. Going from Perec’s work written entirely without an ‘e’ seems vastly more logical than Craig Dworkin’s piece Parse devised entirely of the names of particles of speech. Initially trying to decode Dworkin’s work was extremely exhausting; however, after reading further into it, I found myself assigning my own words to the parts of speech he gives, essentially creating my own story. While the idea of conceptualism, especially with these examples, comes across as very disjointed, I really enjoyed trying to wrap my brain around these works. The aspect I enjoyed most about Catherine Wagner’s excerpt from My New Job is its title: Everyone in the Room is a Representative of the World at Large. The way she portrays her observations and thoughts through text is extremely engaging. I was nervous about delving into the depths of conceptual writing, but after these readings, I’m surprisingly drawn to reading and writing in this genre.

Conceptualism

This week’s readings started with “Sentences on Conceptual Writing” by Kenneth Goldsmith and excerpts from other writers. I found the readings interesting to read because as Goldsmith mentioned, “In uncreative writing the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work.” I personally enjoy poetry writing and thus Goldsmith describes it as being meant to primarily entertain the ears unlike uncreative writing where it is emotionally dry. The excerpts by Catherine Wagner and Goldsmith in particular exemplify this emotional dryness through the simplicity of ideas. These excerpts merely talk about everyday events that occur in our day to day lives or things we observe. Therefore, what exactly is Goldsmith trying to present with the form of uncreative writing? Also, he says the uncreative writing is only good when the idea is good so what constitutes as good ideas?

Conceptual Writing

For Monday, our readings were a lot different from what we’ve normally have been reading. “Uncreative Writing” was a lot different and it really opened my mind to what “work” and “art” mean to certain people. Everybody has their own interpretation of what art is and all authors have their own way to write and create art. It is a lot different this week reading “Uncreative Writing” because what we have been reading is about process and how to write essays and different pieces of art. There were 5 different essays that we had to read this week and each one was different in its own way but in reality, every author that wrote these, all consider it a piece of art.

Contradiction

I feel like "uncreative" writing is some of the most creative writing that has occurred in the modern age. By following a tight set of restraints instead of relying only on the ideas that come into the head of the writer, the uncreative writing gains a facet most "creative" pieces do not have. Although the uncreative writings are not always the most pleasant to read they contain elements that aid in their being more creative than a writing with no or limited constraints. With uncreative writing reading between, across, or around the lines is very important and although the creativity may not be on the surface it is certainly always there.

Conceptual Writing

The readings for Monday were very different from what we have been reading in class. Conceptual writing was a very different topic for me as I am not familiar with it at all. Dworkin's piece was very confusing and boring to me and Wagner's piece was interesting to me. Like almost everyone else's blog posting, Goldsmith's piece was the most interesting and thought provoking to me. This concept of "uncreative" writing is a concept I have never heard of before. I guess I have always thought that engaging in any form of writing took creativity and therefore was creative. Goldsmith's argument of uncreative writing, the writer making plans and decisions for the piece before it's written and therefore is done without a lot of thinking, does make sense to me. I understand that making up the storyline and plot for a story as you go is very different from already having all the major decisions made. I know that I have written "uncreatively" before. One idea of Goldsmith's that I didn't agree with was that it is the author's responsibility for the reader's understanding. I think it is the reader's fault, or just their ideas, if they don't understand something. However, there are certain cases where a writer could have been more clear in what they were trying to get across.

Conceptual Writing

This week we are focusing on conceptual writing. In reading the excerpts for class I thought about what different concepts the authors were writing about. In Goldsmith's writing he focused a lot on so called 'uncreative' writing, which was interesting. This is a concept that I don't think I have ever heard before because I have always thought of all writing, good or bad, as creative in its own way. So to think about writing as uncreative was a new concept for me. I thought that the reading by Goldsmith that was entitled 'Traffic' was interesting because it was like nothing I've ever read before. It had the qualities of a diary but also a timeline of sorts. The piece by Dworkin was a bit confusing and rather boring. I thought that Wagner's piece was also interesting and reminded me a lot of the poetry week at the beginning of the semester in the way that it is written.

Conceptual Writing

For this week we were asked to read multiple writings from different writers, but the one that seemed to strike me the most was Kenneth Goldsmith's "Sentences on Conceptual Writing." Goldsmith delves into the idea of "uncreative writing." I found this idea to be pretty interesting because I never thought of writing as being "uncreative" before. Goldsmith writes that when using the uncreative writing form, a writer makes all of their plans and decisions for the piece beforehand and the execution of that piece is automatic and done without too much thinking. I found this intriguing because I know within my own writing I often have an idea when I start out but by the end of the piece I have gone off in a different direction completely, so it is interesting that he formulates all of his writings around his immediate plan and sticks to it.

Conceptual Writing

The readings for Monday were very different from what I am used to reading. Normally I would think of writing as creative and artistic, but Goldsmith says in “Sentences on Conceptual Writing” that his type of writing is “uncreative writing.” To me, that is like someone saying that they are going to paint an uncreative picture. It just doesn’t seem to mesh. Uncreative writing seems to be very systematic like in the one piece that appears to be a radio traffic channel written down and the other piece that appears to be a work where all the word’s part of speech is substituted for the word itself. This made me think about what makes a work creative. Is a creative idea a new idea?

Concepts

This weeks readings were extremely interesting to me. Like the past few weeks, emphasis was put on process, which is fascinating. The piece on "uncreative writing" opened my mind about what authors think of their work. The concept of the idea is far more important than the actual writing is somewhat foreign to me. I understand that the idea is the basis and if it is a profound or good idea then it lends itself to being readable. However, it's great to think of writing as just a process to actualize ideas.

Wagner's writing is one of my favorite pieces this semester. With the introduction to it being about process, I was wondering how she came up with some of the phrases or shifts she did. I thought she was refreshing and not too linear to become monotonous.

Conceptual Writing

These five essays were interesting to say the least. I think after reading "Sentences on Conceptual Writing" it helped put the other four excerpts more into perspective. I think out of all of them I liked Cathrine Wagner's "My New Job" the most, it made me laugh. The Dworkin excerpt was probably the most bizarre, it just felt like he was writing the same thing over and over but varying in font size and boldness. The thing that's bugging me about conceptual writing is how one decides what is good and bad conceptual writing. It intrigues me though, it would probably be really cool to try and write a conceptual piece.

Goldsmith, Dworkin, Place and Wagner

This weeks excerpts were a variety of selections and I had some problems keeping up with a few of them. Goldsmith’s first essay we read was interesting and thought provoking however I did not agree with her conclusion of the author being responsible for the reader’s lack of understanding. Her essay “Traffic” was in the form of what seemed to me to be a diary or primary source, very informative but repetitive and dull, much like Craig Dworkin’s writing, in which I was lost before I finished the first page. Vanessa Place’s “Gone With The Wind” however, caught my attention and held it, however it’s depressing nature took away from its literary and historical value. Finally, Catherine Wagner’s “My New Job” followed the same lines as “Traffic” and Dworkin’s essay in the sense that I understood little to none of it.

Contraint

On Monday during class our group eventually reached the conclusion that constraints are more or less a constant in writing. No matter how a person is inspired to create they will always, no matter their antipathy for constraint, find themselves bound by rhetorical rules they did not create. Imposing original, i.e constructed by the author, offers an opportunity to transcend the traditional rules of writing. Really the goal becomes writing within the structure you want. Eventually you have to choose in which structure you would like to write and the inspiration felt is automatically bound by those rules. It's more fun to create your own rules than play by someone else's.

Rule and Constraint

Reading Rule and Constraint by Marcel Benabou helps me better understand how constraints in writing do not actually limit a writer but liberate him/her. Generally, people “refuse constraint” because it is an unnecessary rule that only limits the possibilities in writing. However, Benabou points out that constraint actually forces the writer to go beyond “traditional” writing formats which actually awakens the imagination and reveals more creativity. On Monday, our group talked about how inspiration is a rule valued by traditional writers. Inspiration provides writers with a reason to write something for others to read. Not having an inspiration for writing would be a constraint in the traditional writer’s view. However, quoting Queneau, Benabou points out those writers, like Perec, that do not have inspiration are actually the creators of inspiration for their readers.

Perec and Benabou

After reading the rest of The Void and "Rule and Constraint" by Marcel Benabou. I found a quote from Benabou's article that stood out to me. "For four centuries, we have been very comfortable...for instance, that an alexandrine has twelve syllables, that the sonnet has fourteen lines, whose rhymes are disposed according to a very precise order." When reading this quote I immediately thought of The Void. Perec did just the opposite, it seems, than the "rules" made int he past four centuries. He did this, obviously by taking the vowel "e" out of his entire book. When reading Rule and Constraint I thought it was very interesting how it corresponded so well with Perec's book. One thing that really got me wondering was in Benabou's reading he said constraints give deeper literary expression. How can that be? A constraint is in a way holding you back? How can a constraint allow for further expression if it's holding you back?

Perec and Bénabou

Marcel Bénabou’s first two sentences of “Rule and Constraint” really seemed to call out my manner of thinking. While I do understand the necessity for constraints, I am very much about the emotional authenticity in writing; therefore, the idea of putting constraints on emotions seems to be counteractive to the emotional release the literature often embodies. However, Bénabou makes good argument against my opinions heavily marinated in emotions. His idea that constraints are “a commodious way of passing from language to writing” (41) provides a perspective on constraints that is in a much better light than the word’s general connotation. People tend to want to fight constraint. Telling someone what they can’t do only makes them want to do just that. Bénabou acknowledges this desire in the human condition, but also implies that anarchy in writing benefits no one. When a writer is completely unrestrained, he or she begins to talk in chaotic, senseless circles, and if the author is confused by his or her work, imagine the reaction of the audience. Writing and language aren’t completely synonymous. Writing is a means of conveying a language. Therefore, some sort of limits need to be placed serve properly and effieciently.

Perec and Benabou

This week’s readings ended with the last section of A Void by Georges Perec and “Rule and Constraint” by Marcel Benabou. During our last class discussion, my group mainly focused on the comparisons of new thoughts and ancient verses. It was brought up that the sense of a work being timeless is always perpetually changing. Therefore, it is hard to escape the fact that new thoughts will eventually become known as ancient verses.
On a different note, the overall concept of the book and the form in which A Void was written proved to be a great example of literature. However, Benabou brought up a point that stood out to me when he said, “The poet is never inspired, because he is the master of that which appears to others as inspiration.” Thus, it is not what inspired Perec that inspired others, but rather what he has created through his inspiration that inspires others. The rules and constraints for one may be the gateway for someone else.

A Void/Rule and Constraint

The piece, Rule and Constraint really makes me think differently about the connotation that comes with the word constraint or limit. When thinking about a piece in terms of its limit, I have usually thought of the more limitless the piece, the better. However, now I am starting to look at a limit or a constraint placed on a piece could actually turn it into something so different, but make it much more than what it would be without that limit or constraint. I like how the piece actually says, "Perec sees in these constraints the beginning of a new poetic art." A Void, is such an artful piece of work; and it makes me think differently about limits in terms of literature.