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One of the most conspicuous traits of the Internet is its ability to link thoughts and documents and weave them into a vast information network. The linking capabilities of electronic writing systems are supposed to be close to the complex electrodynamics of consciousness; they seem to mimic the brain's ability to make associative references and to use these references to access information. However, cyberspace's information network lacks essential qualities of neural networks: we sense the world by seeing, touching, hearing, tasting and smelling, and our sense of being alive is to a large extent defined by this sensual experience. This raises questions concerning the quality of our existence in cyberspace--"Are we satisfied with simply existing in cyberspace, where all we do is information window-shopping? How can we make our experience and senses common property? Can the sensations experienced by people in real space-time be transmitted via the Internet?"
These are the questions addressed by the Sensorium -- Japan Theme Pavillion, produced by Yoshiaki Nishimura, Tetsuya Ozaki and Shin'ichi Takemura, associate professor at the Tohoku University of Art and Design. The Sensorium attempts to re-create the Internet as a neural network in order to sense the world and to test the possibilities of the interface and contents of the Web. To explore "Linked Senses," the Sensorium used a traditional Japanese poetic form known as Renga, or "Linked Verse" and designated seven motifs--Word, Earth, Air(Aerial), Water(Aquatic), Body, Time and Plant. Renga traditionally consists of an opening verse ("hokku") by the verse-master, which is then linked to other poets' verses until a new poem has been created. A Renga circle may comprise just a few or up to a dozen participating poets. The leader of the circle usually is the oldest or most prominent among them. The poets sit on the floor in a circle, and present their 'links' orally (they are written down by a secretary).When a chain of verses is completed, the master comments on the work, and the group discusses it. The Sensorium applies some of Renga's rules: the opening verses are a direct quotation of or an allusion to a literary work, and the following verses--written by a designated poet--refer back to the previous verse, and also hint at the direction the next one might take.The verses are accompanied by Bruce Osborn's images. Among the contributors are Takemura who, for the motif 'Word,' quotes a poem by Kukai, a major calligrapher and poet who founded the esoteric sect of Buddhism called Shingon; Toji Kamata, a religious researcher, who quotes the scene of the birth of diverse gods from the Kojiki or Records of Ancient Matters (for the motif 'Earth'); and the artists Cai Guo Quiang ('Air') and Ingo Gunther ('Body') who, respectively, use a Feng-Shui maxim and excerpts ofThe Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam . You may not be able to breathe the air or touch the earth evoked by these linked verses, but the Sensorium's use of Renga as a traditional poetic form conjures up a tradition and sensuality that connects to the status of the word in the electronic medium. |
| For more information about Renga, go to: Renga Critical Essays http://renga.ntticc.or.jp/strings/ ICC-ISEA Renga'95 http://renga.ntticc.or.jp/gallery/isea95/ Renga Entrance http://renga.ntticc.or.jp/entry/ |
The number of Renga-related pages and projects on the Web is an indicator of the attraction this poetic form holds within the electronic medium. Renga does not only conveniently provide a poetic form for the electronic linking of texts; its roots in an oral culture also hint at the fact that electronic writing undermines the traditional notions of the stability and authority of the written word. These notions have predominantly been defined in terms of the technology of handwriting and printing. |
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Offering the possibility to instantaneously link, add to or even revise texts, the electronic medium bears resemblances to oral cultures where the linking of verses and senses is always in the air. |