Shelley Jackson's MY BODY
Adrienne Eisen's Six Sex Scenes
Tina Laporta's DISTANCE
Donna Leischman's redridinghood
After spending some time looking and reading these four artists’ works I’ve noticed the similarities and differences with navigation and structure. All these works are online and can only be viewed through a computer.
All four of these artists allowed the readers interaction with the story, and even required it at most times. Each new page could be read and then the reader chose which part to look at next by searching the page with the mouse to find linked words or pictures. Shelly Jackson’s “My Body” was a coming of age story about struggle to be excepted. I found Jackson’s piece interesting because it didn’t have a definite start and finish. Although I didn’t read in chronological order, it wasn’t necessary to understand her story. Her drawings were very unique and were incorporated into the web of choices to click on.
Tina Laporta’s “Distance” and Donna Leischman’s “redridinghood” both had a closed path for the reader to chose. For example in “redridinghood” each paged is linked to another one, not multiple like “My Body” and “Six Sex Scenes.” I found the more open link systems to be a little more frustrating because I was afraid I was going to miss something. To make sure I went back to the main page and tried multiple scenarios. On the other hand, the one way stories like “Distance” were less intriguing because I didn’t feel like I was apart of it.
There were a few times when I was reading that I couldn’t tell if it was real or fantasy. I thought Jackson’s and Eisen’s were both supposed to be mostly and autobiography, but there were a couple occasions that made me think they were exaggerating. For instance, a lot of the stories in Jackson’s website probably had historical evidence in her life but as she brought in her child fantasies her stories seamed to also add a fantasied element. You can tell that her inner child is still relevant. Personally, I enjoyed when she talked about how she felt invincible when she climbed things. She had perfect awareness of her body and the courage to try things that she knew would get her into trouble if her grandma found out. Out of all the segments she shared, I could relate most to this story.
I would say Jackson’s and Eisen’s pieces are related mostly to literature, Eisen’s especially. You can’t classify her piece as visual art since there is hardly anything visual about it. Other than text she chose to use a pink background and to magnify certain words on each page. I guess one could argue that she chose not to use visual devices and that decision shows her piece is visual. Personally, I like to think simpler and would classify her website a literature piece. As far as the other three are concerned, each one has visual aspect. Whether it be a drawing, a digital photo, or an animation. These elements are visual and even performances. It seams that the separation between literature and visual art is much harder to distinguish in electronic environments.
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