Lisa Lipschultz : Response to Readings
In 1987, a year after I was born, George Landow was exploring new literary forms he called “intertextualities.” He wanted to use new media to dissolve the authority of the author, allowing readers to interact with texts in ways that were impossible before. He also wanted to get away from a linear/narrative text and instead focus on individual fragments of text. You can definitely see Landow’s influence on today’s hyperfiction and e-poetry, where texts tend to be more fragmented and are open to readers interacting with and navigating between fragments.
A decade earlier in 1976, Robert Wilson was creating “visual operas” such as “Einstein on the Beach.” Like Landow’s “intertextualities,” these operas worked against linear narrative structures. They were about music and visual effects for their own sake and didn’t “make sense” in a traditional way.
I think that technology encourages these non-linear and non-narrative art forms and will continue to do so a decade into the future. The idea of the reader/viewer’s increased interaction and authority in experiencing art I think will also influence art in the future. As art moves away from “traditional” media and into “new” media, I think it will continue to work against traditional structures and subjects as well.