May 26, 2008

PIC, a Pack of Poems

by Nick Montfort · , 6:39 pm

APxD circut board and batteriesAdam Parrish, who left a poetry machine in a comment here on Grand Text Auto, has recently completed a hardware device that does (at a high level) the same sort of thing: Autonomous Parapoetic Device (APxD mkII). This resulted from his work at NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program, where he wrote the thesis “New Interfaces for Textual Expression.” Other text machines of his include the rubbery, non-computational but nevertheless combinatorial Poem Sphere, a Markov generator that looks suitable for installation in the Exploratorium, and a keyboard that enforces lipogrammatic writing. Check it out – even if you don’t enjoy watching as sausages are made, you’ll like reading about his several projects that extrude the Oulipian ideals into meatspace, by mechanical, electrical, and elastic means.

3 Responses to “PIC, a Pack of Poems”


  1. Ian Bogost Says:

    These are just excellent.

  2. Frank Lantz Says:

    It’s a suspicious device.

  3. Post Position » Pythonic Textuality at NYU Says:

    […] learn that Adam Parrish, whose own Interactive Telecommunication Program (ITP) masters project was “New Interfaces for Textual Expression,” is now teaching Digital Writing with Python at NYU’s ITP. The course is concluding; Parrish […]

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