Maud

This unique performance of Tennyson’s dramatic poem “Maud” uses programming with OpenGL and other “abandonware” to produce an audiovisual reading. Part of what this work underscores is the nature of digital data, such as the words of Tennyson’s poem. Each letter, space, and line break is represented by the computer as a sequence of 1s and 0s, the on/off signals of binary code. The thing about computers is that it can then use that code to reproduce the same sequence of characters visually, or can use that code to produce different kinds of output. Sally Rodgers and Steve Jones have created a program to read “Maud” performing the poem as an audio-visual conceptual art video. But this is not simply a machine reading what it can’t comprehend, it is also a visualization tool that allows Rodgers, Jones, and us to see and hear things in the poem that we wouldn’t notice in a vocal performance or text-to-speech rendition. And it is also an instrument they have shaped and customized to produce the documented performances through videos. (Source: Leonardo Flores, I ♥ E-Poetry)