I Have In Me The Last Unanswered Question
March 13, 2007 12:46 PM   Subscribe

Why Do You Stay Up So Late? An interactive, illustrated poem. [note: sound and flash animation]... From the wonderful Born Magazine, "an experimental venue marrying literary arts and interactive media." A previous project from Born Magazine was featured on Metafilter in 2004.
posted by amyms (6 comments total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
beautiful. simply beautiful.
thanks.
posted by horseblind at 1:38 PM on March 13, 2007


This is where you sould use flash! Even though it's just a click to advance, the fact that I was interacting to some degree and controlling the pace made this much more visceral. Thanks.
posted by CharlesV42 at 2:00 PM on March 13, 2007


I wanted to like this -- I love Flash art, interactivity, and poetry - but I didn't care for this particular presentation. The overall spookiness of the ominous music and rat-squeaking noises undermined, for me, what was a really a very quiet and reflective poem. The poem itself was strong enough to stand alone - the music, motion, and colors distracted from it rather than enhancing it, as I experienced it.

Reading the poem as a poem is quite satisfying without enhancement. If I were the one interpreting it with animation, I'd go for a much subtler, slower, and more middle-of-the-night feel. In truth, when you're staying up writing in the middle of the night, the atmosphere has little horror-movie synth feel to it. It's more a deep fuzzy silence, containing the exaggerated magnitude of small sounds like water pouring into a glass and the shifting of a chair. I found myself wishing the animation better captured the felt experience of late-night writing.
posted by Miko at 2:20 PM on March 13, 2007 [1 favorite]


You make a good point about the music, Miko... I would have preferred softer, more subdued sounds... But I loved the animation and I thought it really enhanced the words onscreen... I thought the whole thing was beautiful, haunting even... As an insomniac and an erstwhile writer, I can totally identify with the thoughts and feelings expressed in the poem.
posted by amyms at 2:33 PM on March 13, 2007


That was great. I'm not sure I like it all together as one piece. Like Miko said, the art and music - while I like them - don't really fit the poem that well. The poem on its own, though, makes me want to stay up late writing just to experience the same feelings.
posted by katillathehun at 2:43 PM on March 13, 2007


Oh wow, I loved this. I wish I could say that I stayed up late for good reasons, I really just waste time, but it resonated with me anyway.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 11:35 PM on March 13, 2007


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