In my opinion, a successful artistic dialogue is based upon the willingness of the artists involved to listen and perhaps more importantly on them having something significant to say to each other. In the case of 'slippage' our dialogue was highly productive and it was forged from the significant differences in the form and materiality of our previous work, our parallel experiences as poetry workshop leaders and our mutual interest in the work of the French Philosopher Jacques Derrida (1930-2004).
Mark and I have only met on three occasions, however, through these meetings (and through our subsequent e-mail exchanges) I have come to realize that Mark's poetic vision has plenty to say about the fluidity of meaning-making and how contemporary poetry addresses these issues through its use of language. As consequence, I am sure that his work works well in 'my' medium.
In return, I hope that my work talks about how the digital media can help to realize some of Mark's ideas in an interesting and approachable form. I believe that this is important because through our dialogue I have come to realize that our different experiences have given us quite different understandings of what is possible in poetry. Opportunity and access to computer technology has informed my aesthetic. I am sure, therefore, that given access, time and encouragement that many poets, writers and readers who have yet to explore the computer-mediated text will embrace it in the way that I have.
I have designed 'slippage', therefore, as a 'signpost'. A way-marker/fingerboard that points the experienced page-reader toward some of the artistic interests raised by making poetry with computers. It features three different (but related) takes on Mark's original poem which are realized using sound, animation and interactivity. They are designed to slip between being playful and serious!
I hope you enjoy our collaboration!
Gavin Stewart - April 2005
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© Mark Goodwin and Gavin Stewart 2005