EXPERIMENTATION LOG — Tracery reboot

Aim

How might I have greater control, and variability in the poems created with Tracery?

How might I more explicitly reference Chinese/East-Asian culture through these poems?

Precedents / context

Continuation of Tracery experiments from last semester.

Process / methods

• Started trying more absurd inputs — "hand-painted vases", "favourite pillow" that are also quite specific. Not exactly constituted as "ground", but also continuing to play with the boundaries of the categories to get more surprising results. 

• Decided to construct the structure of the poem myself, so that it would work more as a cohesive narrative rather than introducing new entities/characters on every line, and making it rather dense and incomprehensible. 
• Below is the final iteration of the structuring code, and the output following this structure on the right. I think the first 5 lines were the most successful at constructing a whole narrative, whereas the last 5 lines were a different structure more similar to a spell

• There were gaps in the default format, had a lot of fun defining my own categories and thinking of the different inputs. These, "specific action", and "object", were attempts to build a richer sense of character, tone, and place through specificity, and detail. 

• Some outcomes:

Give me a VVitch's sky?

Give me a cyborgWitch's dimension! Is ! Is .

Weave for me a witch-demon's flashgame

Weave for me a Mage's nDimension

Seep the shrouded sword-edge'd into the grave I desire

Weave for me a BrothBrewer's discotheque

Code for me a Crrone's nDimension

Perfume the sour green press-on-nails'd into the talisman I desire

Dine with us for the Priestess is unseep'd

Give me a witch-demon's hand-painted-vases

Convulse with us for the Sorcerezz is unperfume'd

Gleam the glittery rage'd into the shrine I yearn

Gleam the sword-edge-perfumed into the heartland I seek

Engender the slimy silk'd into the flashgame I imagine

hree TimeKeepers cast, but, by tongues-twinkled

by this plot we 3D render for nought

scried with press-on-nails into a grave of lore.

pronouns x veggie patch

spinning wheel to the power of bitter

wordWorld thus borne'd

by this twirl we enter for nought

with broth lacquer'd into a clockface of wishing.

grandma's heirloom x keyboard smash

fanny pack to the power of iridescent

dynasty thus mince'd

Weave for me a Huntress's flashgame

There they laugh, but, by silk-dripped

I ask, how do you cackle against the knowing

They scorn, but your silks are only sixth?

Now, march, for the witch-demon is pretwinkle'd.

Code for me their eighth thatched roof

Here, the slimy Mage emerges, perfumed with silk, 

Pluck for me a Forager's intersection

There they say goodbye, and, by press-on-nails-afixed

I ask, how do you curse against the iridescent

They scorn, alas! your inks are only eighth?!

by this embed we cry for nought

sour green powder'd into porcelain plates of lore.

iridescence x spinning wheel

pronouns to the power of defiant

discotheque thus twinkle'd

Recall for me a witch-demon's lakebed

There they dreamt, but, by whisper-disgraced

I ask, how do you curse against the shrouded

They scorn, and your deliriums are only thrice?!?

Print for me a Mage's dirrrt

There they cast, yet, by memory-3D rendered

I ask, how do you meet against the dreary

They scorn, alas! your pixels are only fourth?!

Now, creep, for the VVITCH ! is superslice'd:

Collect for me their fourth hand-painted vase

by this hex we cast for nought

with voice cube'd into a lakebed of dreams.

fanny pack x pronouns

face mask to the power of opaque

mist thus perfume'd

Show me a cyborgWitch's wordWorld

There they encode, but, by silk-hacked

I ask, how do you etch against the resplendent

They scorn, oh, your jades are only seventh?.

by this twirl we liberate for nought

silk-infected into a lakebed of tales.

desire x suit pattern

your tenterhooks to the power of shrouded

psyche thus veil'd

Now, creep, for the cyborgWitch is oft-scry'd!?

Weave for me their fifth iridescence

Render me a cyborgWitch's dimension

There they cast, and, by rivers-dueled

I ask, how do you twirl against the faked

They scorn, ah your sword-edges are only ninth??

Find me a Haaag!'s heartland

There they resist, but, by memory-veiled

I ask, how do you cackle against the riddled

They scorn, yet your broths are only thrice?

by this hex we dreamt for nought

scried with whisper into a intersection of tales.

desire x suit pattern

cake crumbs to the power of riddled

clockface thus fallen'd

by this chant we laugh for nought

with press-on-nails afix'd into a mist of wishing.

vocal fry x spinning wheel

suit pattern to the power of knowing

dust thus scry'd

Find me a Sorcerezz's wordWorld

There they laugh, oh, by memory-cracked

I ask, how do you cackle against the riddled

They scorn, ah your memories are only tenth?...

by this chant we 3D render for nought

dishonoured with memory into a dirrrt of dreams.

desire x gameInventory

cake crumbs to the power of sweetened

dreamland thus duel'd

Now, scheme, for the BrothBrewer is premutate'd.

Find me their ninth smoke tendrils

by this preserve we weave for nought

horrid rivers'd into a lakebed of tales.

iridescence x vocal fry

cake crumbs to the power of shiny

clockface thus duel'd

Show me a Sorcerezz's DanceDanceRevolution

There they enter, ah, by powder-borned

I ask, how do you chant against the faked

They pick at a loose thread...

scoff, why, your sword-edges are but mistaken?.

by this steal we laugh for nought

sweetened tongues'd into a heirloom of wishing.

suit pattern x gameInventory

gameInventory to the power of feverish

heirloom thus infect'd

Show me a Sorcerezz's DanceDanceRevolution

There they enter, ah, by powder-borned

I ask, how do you chant against the faked

They pick at a loose thread...

scoff, why, your sword-edges are but mistaken?.

by this smirk we dreamt for nought

paint-cracked into a flashgame of longing.

spinning wheel x iridescence

gameInventory to the power of slimy

mist thus aflame'd

Reflection on action

• I'm glad I pushed my working of Tracery more, and furthered my understanding of it and the outputs themselves.

• This process was fun, as have my previous Tracery experiments, and wasn't hard to figure out — I wish I had gone in and played around with the structure earlier. I think it's definitely helped to round out these "worlds" within the poems, in taking the evocative combinations that Tracery is great at composing, but separating each one out so that they have room to breathe and can be built upon. 

• I don't think the references to East-Asian culture are super successful. I tried to build them in through particular words, objects, in particular were helpful for this. But it's not immediately evident, and of course, dependent on the different combinations of inputs.  

Reflection for action

• I have already tried moving successful bits of text into code, and using them to help enrich those environments. I think I do need to work on laying out this process and what I've done in Tracery, as documentation? Could be a fun side experiment, maybe in a zine format for something different. 

• The reading/interpretation/"coding" of poems as explicitly East-Asian is an interesting dilemma. Do I want it to be more present? Or build cultural references in more through the visual material? After experimenting with Runway and the Chinese poetry model, I suspect structure would have a lot to do with it, particularly if I'm looking to reference/emulate traditional Chinese poetry — which I don't know that I want to. 

• As per Andrew's feedback, I think a lot can be done with what's already here in a more performative capacity. I would like to experiment with voice/webcam inputs into a code space, and have got that down as the next step.