Ink: designing for performative literary interactions

Abstract

In this article, we present the interactive literary installation Ink, an experimental installation displayed at the Roskilde library, and the Roskilde Festival, which is designed to prompt public reflection on the nature and role of digital literature. By manipulating three books embedded with sensors, and watching text visualized on a 55" screen, members of the public select from a range of predefined sentences, previously created by a Danish author, and stored in a database. Squeezing the books alters each poetic line by degrees. The final poems print onto a library receipt for their producers and upload to a blog for public viewing. We present (1) design challenges to an installation meant to persuade people to engage affectively with the ergodic nature of digital literature and (2) an in-depth analysis of the empirical findings from the installation studies at the Roskilde Festival. In particular, we highlight the broad, rich range of performative interactions facilitated by the interactive setup. This analysis examines the performative writing and reading achieved by the public through interaction with Ink and also with the resultant poems. From this exploration, we discuss general tendencies when designing affectively engaging literary interactions at the edge of art and design.