We chose to center our analysis for this week’s blog post on 88 Constellations for Wittgenstein, an interactive, exploratory digital narrative by David Clark. After a short introduction, the interactor is taken to a vast display of stars. Upon clicking on one of the constellations, the reader is exposed to various digital stories, all which have multiple tangents in and of themselves. 88 Constellations may be considered a misleading title, as it has very little to do with astronomy. However, it does seem to signify the arbitrary connections between the authors topics in relation to the illusory figures in the stars.
As far as medium, 88 Constellations is a very digital artifact. While the photos, video clips, and audio recordings could very well exist outside of the digital realm, the way it is all integrated into an interactive narrative can only be accomplished digitally. In other words, this particular work could be considered a hybrid due to the traditional style of writing being displayed on a digital platform. The diagrams, drawings, and overlays are another important digital element. Both digitized and born-digital elements are presented to the user through a scripted kinetic medium that is neither purely video nor purely images and text, making this a worthy example of electronic literature.
A very interesting aspect of this digital narrative is its nonlinear nature. The interactor is free to explore to his or her contentment with minimal regard to order. While seemly a biography of the Austrian-British philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein at its core, the story employs multiple integrated and at times disconnected plot lines. It’s unfocused nature allows the author to be very flexible with content and integrate many related themes. This allows both author and reader to follow patterns of thought.
As a group, our perceptions of the work’s structure are differing. Most individuals in our group understandably viewed only a quarter to a third of the total constellations, but we would still consider our exposure to be obscure. We each experienced very different perspectives of the narrative as a whole due to the directions we chose to take. Although it may be hard to see at first, the methods of delivery and exploration remain consistent. Additionally, the constellations do showcase interconnections between thoughts and ideas discussed in each “micro narrative.” As Kirstin Butler states in her article, Wayfinding in Wittgenstein’s World: 88 Constellations, “Such a seemingly random connection is typical of 88 Constellations, a quality that makes it a very clever conspiracy theorist’s dream; because the cumulative effect of these pieces is the feeling of a system that’s not so random after all.” So perhaps she is saying that the seemingly disjointed stories behind each constellation are a complicated collection of Wittgenstein’s philosophies of language and the world.
I agree that the hybridity really adds to the piece. With the text, videos, pictures, and audio, it is a lot easier to pay attention and fully understand each part of the story the viewer is presented with as opposed to plain paragraphs of hard to understand information.
ReplyDeleteI too, find it neat that the reader has complete control of how they view the constellations. There is no set order in which the piece can be explored. This is important because I feel like this is one of the only pieces we have viewed in this format. Sure, the reader has the ability to interact in a lot of other pieces, but do we really have the choice of what goes first, second, third, and so on? One could argue that Almost Goodbye does, which I may agree, but I truly feel this piece is important in that aspect.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you situated your response in the context of your tribemates' perspectives. It's befitting that you each had different responses, given that 88 Constellations is, itself, about the failure of language.
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