Aarhus University Seal

Ink

This installation was based on a screen, a computer, a receipt printer, and three books. Each of the books contained an integrated pressure sensor. By pressing on a book, you could create a poem that was automatically printed out on a receipt printer. When the installation was turned off, a cluster of words appeared on the screen. Lifting one of the books caused a white text box to appear in the middle of the cluster of words. Subsequently, a line of text appeared. Pressing the book could change the text. By maintaining the pressure, you could place the text bar in the white box, and a new text bar appeared. This was continued until the poem was complete. Afterward, it was automatically printed on the receipt printer, and you could take it with you.

Note: Various texts were associated with each book. By using different books, you could create different texts. You could also use several books at once. The aim of the work was to showcase one of the common characteristics of digital literature, namely, getting the user to do anything with the work, to have it make sense. The user had to be active, to create a poem. Only through the users’ interaction with the work was it possible to talk about there being a work.