Hayles Network Art
February 20, 2009 at 5:07 pm | Posted in Quickness | Leave a commentTags: the journey
For many reasons, I have chosen a quote that N. Katherine Hayles stated in her Electronic Literature book. It illustrates everything I believes goes into the idea of quickness and is very relatable to the emblem and analogy I have discussed. Hayles states, “the goal is not reaching the end but rather the journey itself” (9). In many senses this is true because every journey one may take, whether a mental or physical one, the end result is not as important as the actual experience.
When comparing Hayles statement to Robert Kendall’s Faith electronic literature example, the journey through the text is what is most important. The story itself is what makes up such a good E-lit example, not the actual end point. You get the most out of watching and reading the entire story as it happens rather than when it is over. Faith’s main impact occurs during the unfolding of words and statements because the reader then gets familiar with the story. In addition, a roller coaster is all about the ride as previously discussed because of the way you feel during it, not after it is over. Even Calvino’s idea of “hurry slowly” for quickness embodies the idea that you cannot enjoy something unless you are going through the full motions that make it existent.
E-lit Example
February 20, 2009 at 4:53 pm | Posted in Quickness | Leave a commentTags: Faith
To emulate the idea of quickness, I used the E-lit example of Faith by Robert Kendall. Faith is a poem that reveals itself in five successive states and each new state is put over or in front of a previous one, incorporating the old and the new words together. Each new state uses the previous one to bring forth another argument. As the text unfolds, the music that plays with it relates to the words and movement of the words.
Faith incorporates ideas of quickness because as the text is unfolding, your mind is quickly trying to focus on what word will come next. The movement of the words is pretty fast as they turn and come from different directions on the page. The story spreads out with time as you read each new sentence that is being formed. Just like the magician, the reader is fooled by what will come next in the story as well as where and when the next words will fall.
To view this E-lit example of Faith by Robert Kendall click here.
Analogy of Quickness
February 20, 2009 at 4:40 pm | Posted in Quickness | Leave a commentTags: Magician
A magician is an actor who pretends he is doing the impossible. The most common trick is to make objects or people disappear and reappear. It is vital that a magician keep the audience from noticing what is actually being done through deception. If the audience’s attention can be controlled, the magician needs only some skill of hand and very little tools. Distraction of the mind may be just as necessary as distraction of the eye as the magician tries to draw the attention away from the method.
Another element in the psychology of magic is timing. According to the manner in which an action is performed and the time at which it is done, a magician can impress audiences with what he is doing or make them fail to notice what is actually being done. Movements of the hand must be done slowly and gently, but the magician may speak of quickness of the hand in order to mislead the audience as they try and watch alertly for quick movement. They thus fail to notice the normal, easy motions by which the trick is really done.
The process of the magician’s quickness of the hand embodies Calvino’s memo. The magician establishes a connection between the audience and his hand that is not really existent or possible by using time and trickery to fool the viewers. Deception and timing of a magician compares to the emblem of “hurry slowly” Calvino also uses to describe quickness. The total idea of hurrying slowly is exactly what a magician does in order to mislead the audience as the movements of his hands are done slowly, but he talks about quickness.
Emblem of Quickness
February 20, 2009 at 4:18 pm | Posted in Quickness | Leave a commentTags: Roller coaster
The roller coaster is a popular amusement ride developed for modern theme parks. In essence a specialized railroad system, a roller coaster consists of a track that rises in designed patterns, sometimes with one or more inversions, such as vertical loops that turn the rider briefly upside down. Most roller coasters have multiple cars in which passengers sit and are restrained and the entire set of cars hooked together is called a train The overall speed and openness of a roller coaster gives people a rush of adrenaline that no other vehicle really can do.
Quickness can be compared to a roller coaster in several ways. The speed of a roller coaster is even faster than Calvino’s emblem of a horse and exemplifies the idea of quickness. Also, the feeling you get on a roller coaster relates to speed of mind. Your thoughts are rushing as your nerves are flying, combining to make your whole body feel the adrenaline rush you get as you drop down and loop around. In a sense, you have no concept of the actual time you are on this ride, but a feeling of excitement that some never want to end. What a roller coaster can do to your mind and body is unlike many other feelings you would experience in everyday life. Quickness again comes into play as a roller coaster can be seen as something that establishes a feeling that at one time may not have been seen as possible.
Intro to Quickness
February 20, 2009 at 3:54 pm | Posted in Quickness | Leave a commentTags: Time
Quickness is not a value in itself because time can also be delayed, cyclic, or motionless. Calvino describes quickness through many different folktales and analogies. One specific tale is that of Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving. In this story, the relativity of time is subject of the tale because someone who thinks it has lasted only a few hours makes a journey to another world. This motif can also be interpreted as an allegory of narrative time that cannot be measured against real time. Overall, Calvino incorporates this example with quickness because the story is capturing time, which in turn makes the reader eager to know what comes next. Here, quickness is seen as an immediate connection that writing establishes between everything existent or possible.
It is also interesting to relate Calvino’s emblem of a horse to quickness. The horse in many ways represents speed, but not only actual speed, but also speed of mind. The horse as an emblem is one that has run through the history of literature and therefore deems very important in Calvino’s memo of quickness.
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