Memexical Machine Reading (MMR) is a collection of randomised quotes regarding the history and theory of electronic literature (a.k.a. eliterature, digital literature, cybertext, technotexts) with a focus on the fundamental element of the hyperlink and its affordances. When you enter MMR the entries are shuffled and you are presented with your own personal, randomised journey.
The title is drawn from the notion of the memex proposed by US scientist Vannevar Bush (1945). He envisaged a future machine that would allow us to access all manner of data, actively drawing permanent connections between information nodes tailored to our own understanding:
Consider a future device for individual use, which is a sort of mechanized private file and library. It needs a name, and, to coin one at random, “memex” will do. A memex is a device in which an individual stores all his books, records, and communications, and which is mechanized so that it may be consulted with exceeding speed and flexibility. It is an enlarged intimate supplement to his memory. (Bush, 1945, section 6, para 4-6)
While I have created this “machine” to store items that are of interest to me, the random nature does not conform to Bush’s desires for configurable and repeatable trail making. Rather, this project is also about experimenting with the effects that nonlinearity and abdicated agency can have on the connective tissue of meaning. It is in the spirit of ambiguous multiplicity that I float the memory of the memex in the title to allude to the history of digital dreaming.
There are 25 entries, each with a short commentary text. These musings comprise personal responses and informal theorising reflecting on interrelations between the ideas; correlations between the histories and strategies of eliterature and ficto-criticism; as well as connections with sonaurality, subjectivity and reflexivity in art. The quotes and commentary together are a kind of redux/remix of ideas around mediated reading that permeate the Languages of Listening research.
The memex of randomised quotes was created first. I then wrote the commentaries by traversing the site and responding spontaneously to the random quotes it offered. In this way the MMR module has served as both a writing tool and an outcome, illustrating the intimate connection between theory and creative modes of writing-as-research, product and process.
Using the Memex:
Once you enter the machine, the entries are shuffled into your unique order. There are 25 entries, and the order of your journey will be displayed to you when you reach the end creating an aleatoric poem. You may want to keep a record of how many pieces you have read to know how far you have until the end.
In the interest of referencing and revisiting entries, or if the random experience is not working for you, I have included an index with the titles and links to a linear version of the entries.
NB: As the entries are shuffled and replace one another DO NOT USE THE BACK BUTTON. This will NOT take you to the previous entry but will bring you back to this introduction where you will need to start the process again.
Introduction & Instructions
Memexical Machine Reading (MMR) is a collection of randomised quotes regarding the history and theory of electronic literature (a.k.a. eliterature, digital literature, cybertext, technotexts) with a focus on the fundamental element of the hyperlink and its affordances. When you enter MMR the entries are shuffled and you are presented with your own personal, randomised journey.
The title is drawn from the notion of the memex proposed by US scientist Vannevar Bush (1945). He envisaged a future machine that would allow us to access all manner of data, actively drawing permanent connections between information nodes tailored to our own understanding:
Consider a future device for individual use, which is a sort of mechanized private file and library. It needs a name, and, to coin one at random, “memex” will do. A memex is a device in which an individual stores all his books, records, and communications, and which is mechanized so that it may be consulted with exceeding speed and flexibility. It is an enlarged intimate supplement to his memory. (Bush, 1945, section 6, para 4-6)
While I have created this “machine” to store items that are of interest to me, the random nature does not conform to Bush’s desires for configurable and repeatable trail making. Rather, this project is also about experimenting with the effects that nonlinearity and abdicated agency can have on the connective tissue of meaning. It is in the spirit of ambiguous multiplicity that I float the memory of the memex in the title to allude to the history of digital dreaming.
There are 25 entries, each with a short commentary text. These musings comprise personal responses and informal theorising reflecting on interrelations between the ideas; correlations between the histories and strategies of eliterature and ficto-criticism; as well as connections with sonaurality, subjectivity and reflexivity in art. The quotes and commentary together are a kind of redux/remix of ideas around mediated reading that permeate the Languages of Listening research.
The memex of randomised quotes was created first. I then wrote the commentaries by traversing the site and responding spontaneously to the random quotes it offered. In this way the MMR module has served as both a writing tool and an outcome, illustrating the intimate connection between theory and creative modes of writing-as-research, product and process.
Using the Memex:
Once you enter the machine, the entries are shuffled into your unique order. There are 25 entries, and the order of your journey will be displayed to you when you reach the end creating an aleatoric poem. You may want to keep a record of how many pieces you have read to know how far you have until the end.
In the interest of referencing and revisiting entries, or if the random experience is not working for you, I have included an index with the titles and links to a linear version of the entries.
NB: As the entries are shuffled and replace one another DO NOT USE THE BACK BUTTON. This will NOT take you to the previous entry but will bring you back to this introduction where you will need to start the process again.
Bush, V. (1945, July 1). As we may think. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1945/07/as-we-may-think/303881/
Enter the Machine