Does the MAICgregator belong on Netpoetic?
King Davin Heckman
I have been thinking a bit about the question of “poetics” and what it means: Does it refer to poetry specifically? Does it refer theories of literature? Or can it be loosened to denote theory, in general? These distinctions have been in play for some time time, as definitions of poetry, literature and theory have been contentious throughout the 20th Century. But in the 21st Century, specifically as it relates to “netpoetics” and the art and criticism that this forum is dedicated to, the question, “What is poetics?” appears more difficult to answer than ever.
I have come down on the issue in various ways, occasionally advocating a definition of “poetics” that is restrictive, and, at other times, arguing for a “poetics” that is broad to the point of meaninglessness. I guess, the question I have is, what do we mean when we talk about “poetics”? The goal of this prompt is not to stir up ideological conflict, rather, it is to initiate some discussion about the many things we mean when we approach this topic.
To offer an illustration, I would like to hold up the example of the MAICgregator <http://maicgregator.org/>:
MAICgregator is a Firefox extension that aggregates information about colleges and universities embedded in the military-academic-industrial complex (MAIC). It searches government funding databases, private news sources, private press releases, and public information about trustees to try and produce a radical cartography of the modern university via the replacement or overlay of this information on academic websites. This is a necessary activity in light of the contemporary financial “crisis”.
On its surface, we might easily situate such work in the category of advocacy and activism. In terms of what you see, it delivers fairly straighforward informational content, culled from various official sources. On one level, the MAICgregator functions seeks to be something other than poetic, literary or even theoretical. It is highly practical.
Beneath its surface, the MAICgregator does contain the sort of technical “virtuosity” that Rita Raley highlights in her book Tactical Media (University of Minnesota Press, 2009). While I am not qualified to comment on the ease or difficulty of creating and maintaining such a project, I am impressed, and am thus inclined to accept that it qualifies as a masterful performance, regardless of its aesthetic dimension.
But there is another angle to consider, and that is how successfully the MAICgregator intervenes against an aestheticised backdrop. What makes this particular piece so interesting is not the aesthetics of the project itself, but the way that it interacts with the poetics of the various university websites that it modifies. The MAICgregator is interesting because it disrupts the seamless and (often deceptively) innocuousness of public relations, to add a splash of reality against which the idyllic depictions of the space of the university can be contrasted.
To come back to the question, then, I would ask, in a culture where everything is “designed,” does the critique of this landscape also amount to a poetic practice?
Tags: Davin Heckman | MAICgregator | Nick Knouf | Poetics | Rita Raley
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2 Responses to “Does the MAICgregator belong on Netpoetic?”.
To answer your first question….if the MAICgregator belongs on this list…I’d say yes. Not because what the creators are doing with it now, but instead for how it opens new ways of creating, new methods for playing with data. And in turn, new directions for those whose drive and intention is to create something they call a digital poem.
Then there is the larger question, one that has burdened the field for far too long. What is digital poetry? Or what should be classified as a digital poem? To some extent digital poetry has been unfairly criticized and/or theory wonks and creative pracs have spent too much time on these questions. All other fields have the same issues. The art world typically uses materials to define the various forms. Painting uses paints, photography uses photographs, mixed media mixes it all up. But then we see galleries with nothing but fog….or the street preacher barking out his warnings of doom and salvation. I don’t pretend to know where the line is….and honestly don’t care.
For me as an artist, how I think of my own work, it is about intention. I choose to create digital poems, I think of my work as a digital poem. I call it digital poetry, even in the most hostile of venues. Is this enough? No, maybe, yes.
Oddly enough, I see Digital Poetry’s aversion to a clear and agreed description/definition as its signature feature, its defining moment. Which brings me back to intention. I think we all begin near the same place, to create a poem, and yet the end results are all so different, so varying, so strange and wonderful that it can be difficult to see the connections if only looking at the end result.
And yet, we’ve only just begun creating, only started to explore the possible avenues. And with each new technology shift, with MAICgregator as a nice example, our work will change, hopefully.
I love it when politicians throw in Poet when they list those valuable to society. As if a poetry isn’t a product or a craft, but instead an idea, an ethereal notion or intent or even lack of intent. And so maybe being a digital poet should be defined in the circular statement: I am a digital poet because I create digital poetry. Hallmark…….for everyone.
hi, it’s great to see some Firefox add-on art/poetry. I guess the aesthetis here is not in the form it’s rather embeded in the idea/statement of the work. It’s not how it looks/reads its wht id does.
I’ve been down the similar path myself ( http://www.jaka.org/2007/pzhm/ for example). + it would be nice if you would provide more information on the project, how, where and why it works. (And I’m the one to say that – I’m guilty of the same lack for my add-ons
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