Playing Jackson Mac
Low’s Piano
(variations on a
letter by Anne Tardos):
a poetic text manipulation
casebook 2013
Dear Friends,
I’m offering to
donate Jackson’s piano. It is one that he was given at the age of four,
and remained with him throughout his life. It is a Baldwin baby grand, built in
1926.
Its sound is rich and resonant. I write to you in the hope that you, or
someone you know,
or an institution, might be interested in acquiring this
piano for the cost of shipping.
We priced the shipping cost in the Tri-state
area to be around 1,000 dollars. Naturally,
I’m very sad to see such a
wonderful piano, with this unique history, sitting idle.
Please let me
know if you are interested, or have any leads or ideas. I can be reached via
this email or phone: 212-XXX-XXXX.
Many thanks,
October 2013— I am one of 80 or
so people receiving an email from Anne Tardos,
who was working to usher Jackson Mac Low’s piano into a new home (a month later I have learned that it now resides at Baruch College’s Performing Arts Center). Not being in a
position to welcome it in my own studio, I thought of an interesting experiment:
to play, metaphorically, one (or more) of his instruments—specifically text
processors/processes—by using a few selected programs he used, as well as applying
alternative (and supplemental) processing methods, to Anne’s message about the
piano. This “virtual casebook” reflects results of my investigation; it is not
an identical step-by-step movement through stages of Jackson’s processing, but
a general exploration of multiply-treating a source text using procedures one
finds fruitful.
I began by applying a
contemporary adaptation of Hugh Kenner/Joseph O’Rourke’s TRAVESTY (1984), which
Jackson used methodically in many works—such as 42
Merzgedichte in Memoriam Kurt
Schwitters (1994), Twenties, 8-25 : Order 9, Travesty from Twenties 8-25
(Abacus 28), & “It Rememble Splendid and Religiou (Stein 43)”. As explained in my book Prehistoric Digital Poetry, TRAVESTY analyzes a text file and
identifies successive patterns of letters and spaces (known as “character
groups”) and makes a “frequency table” for each character group in a document’s
source text; the program then scrambles (or permutes) the text by replacing
each character group in the text with another (of the same size) located
elsewhere in the source. The combination or patterns of letters in the words
themselves and spaces between words become the basis for the program’s output. I
used an offline app, Travestificator. v1.0 (also known as Sean’s Excellent Travestificator)—though there are other online TRAVESTY apps, such as Ben Johnson’s Travesty Generator,
Peter Manson’s Adjunct Travesty;
the original Pascal code is available.
In addition to furnishing the input text (Anne’s letter), my involvement was to
set a desired amount of output (which I calibrated to be same number of
characters as the input), and to set the size of the pattern length. I made four versions, one each for 3, 4, 5,
and 6 character groups.
My favorite of these, generally
speaking—at least during my 2013 sessions— are the 3-character pattern outputs
(titled “Playing Jackson Mac Low’s Piano, No. 1” directly below), mainly because
they are such completely bizarre texts to read, a blend of seemingly foreign,
and definitely unknown, languages:
Playing Jackson Mac Low’s Piano, No. 1
Mant.
Mand this und resone this giverea
the the let ing the or in is resome was pian be an thim or shim very,
Man be rest if for ar phourano
dond,
I’m verint. I’m or Frithippiano. We
hipping. I coste age know idle. It mighone withe thippiand in buil or thano.
Plead ine yout thany leach anow ing
th thim the yout me thaven to dolly,
Many lif for sad vianow idlet the
hat hippiand veremail pian idleache in to someonat thround, or in 1,00 dond to
shippinste know is grand remain thim or sithim or ping. It haven thaven buirin
be was
Because of the number of character
patterns that exist in any given text, and the way the program works, output
generated by TRAVESTY users will vary (i.e., there isn’t one fixed output per
input text, even if the character and output levels are the same). As Charles
O. Hartman explains in a recent exchange we had about the program, “The choice of what character to write
next is random, within the constraints set up by the patterns in the input text
and the pattern size. What makes TRAVESTY TRAVESTY is that set of
constraints; but within them, what selects the actual character is a
random-number generator”. To give an example, here is another result,
created with the exact same parameters as the text above:
Playing Jackson Mac Low’s Piano, No. 1A
graldwitution, on, sad to you know
in buil of youndery th he tor hond,
Ple. Its email prich his email
offery life. I wined, or son’s see son, offe. Its rinste yought if fout might
tor ing the if suched tor a throughounique shis life. It baby life. Nat to for
Fri-sted wonat of se Jacque the tor a wittittithed idle. It ideads uniquil ping
cand ring tor at in to sad ing throu know in baby lif fou,
Manow, writtith hippianow, or
idery, mighope ach his grand verful pin 1,000 dond ri-sted, or such hippiano,
ory, of fou, wriced th he thavericed is offer
For a very specific reason I sometimes
enjoy producing 4-character output even more, but only because of neologisms invented
through TRAVESTY’s processes. Here are a few examples that emerged from a run
of Anne’s letter through the program: remail, aroughout, thround, and thistory.
Next I turn to a non-Mac Lowian
procedure, running the letter through different spell-check processing(s) (for some background on this method, see an
essay Sonny Rae Tempest and I prepared for Cordite
Poetry Review in 2012, titled, “Picture Becomes Text, Becomes Writing:Software as Interlocutor”).
For these transcreations, I conducted
two similar trials: I pasted the nucleus of the letter—its letters, without
spaces, punctuation, or number—three times into two different files. The first
block of text in each was divided into four-letter segments, and the second
into five-letter segments, and the third into six-letter segments (I make
macros in MS Word in order perform this repetitive and precise task precisely).
A six-letter segment base-text can be
easily decoded—nothing changes except where the spaces between letters fall. However, when treated with spell-check
process, the third section of “Playing Jackson Mac Low's Piano, No. 2” (in full, below) becomes:
Dwarf ends
offer into orate axons spinal. Edison thatch usage vents heave flour dream, indie
theme rough outhouse lifetime isobar liana began, built units sounds rich a dragon
antiwar ditto youth hoped that you or some onerous knower anoints studio, night
beignet rested incur irking hippie—no fort helots of ship, pine priced thesis popping
stint hears teeter eatable around dollar senator ally verse doses such under Ulpian
width housing queries torso toting deplete sleet minnow if you orient rested or
have anile desire basic beret chervil mailer phoneme anything nose.
Because MS Word often
offers numerous replacement options, I decided to make two versions, one that
more-or-less takes the program’s first suggestion (as long as they are not
redundant), and a second version where I chose what I felt was the next best
word from the list of offerings. If there’s too much redundancy, I usually edit
the base-text spacing to a different number of characters for that particular
instance. The same section treated above appears as follows, as part of “Playing Jackson Mac Low's Piano, No. 2A”:
Direr fiendish
muffler intoed donated actor span omission earth sewage vented headed future dermal
index lithium through outies life. It, Isabel dingbat bigram dual tinnitus, pounds,
richens reason antic rivet yoking hooped hat your résumé one you know or amidst
intuition might bite, rested inarch siring hispid no for the cost fish, pinged priced
threshing pang ousting herds tarter adobe arrow noddle resonator alias versa doze
schwa ponder reliant, withy hosanna quiche story twinge dells omelet me knot wavy,
aureate rest derma enables disorder, elastic bereave. Chevy awhile, jailor phone
anther nosy.
Here are the complete texts:
Playing Jackson Mac Low's Piano, No. 2
Dear Fire
nudist miff rein good oat eject, skin sepia not icon ether thaw saga vena the age
foul rand ream inked with hit hour ghoul this life. It is cabal din baby, grab due
loin. Its round sire chin dress on a twirl item joyous inch shop ethic toy orzo
moon eye, know organ isn’t intuit ion light being tree steed intact quirk ingot
hips in fort hero, stove ship, ping. Wept iced these hippo nigh oust nether. Tries
tote area tube around, undo liar, smart oral lye, very salt use, such won deaf tulip
anew tight hiss unique heist tory set binge sleep lease, let mean owe yoga rein
tire sated orphan vein year door idea slice near each devil ache seam idler phony
means that nukes.
Deaf rind
smog fern good ante, asks snipe note sonnet, hate wage, vent their effort grand
remains, news thin through gout hassle feisty seal din bag ambo tilting. It’s
so undies rich nerds on ant. Writ too unit elope, tatty odors omen yolk, newer anions
taut anomie gate inter tested enact urine gothic piano forth accost foci piping.
Weary couth ship pinch osteon theory is that eureka tibia round dole snit mural
time raid toes sushi, wonder frump anew tithe issuing quiche story, site gild epee
sleet menu wiry aura nature stood, rave ankle ads or ideas. Iamb erect heavy aphis
email orphic nomad python ski.
Dwarf ends
offer into orate axons spinal. Edison thatch usage vents heave flour dream, indie
theme rough outhouse lifetime isobar liana began, built units sounds rich a dragon
antiwar ditto youth hoped that you or some onerous knower anoints studio, night
beignet rested incur irking hippie—no fort helots of ship, pine priced thesis popping
stint hears teeter eatable around dollar senator ally verse doses such under Ulpian
width housing queries torso toting deplete sleet minnow if you orient rested or
have anile desired basic beret chervil these mailer phoneme anything nose.
Playing Jackson Mac Low's Piano, No. 2A
Dear free
nods’ miff erring god ornate exact soon speak, nit iron tea, threw sage vena
the agro foe rand remap lined with hint horn ghouls this life. It is banal twin
baby gran buy line, its bound ire chant dries omen tower intent oboe itch chop ethane
tryout. Orson melon you know orange inset toot ions, might begin tore stud, enact
quit wing tips inane fort hence stove shy pupping. Web riced thus, hips ding posit
anthem. Trips taste area tone, arouse node lark senate rural lid, very sad dose
such wagon serf lip annoy itchy hose noun heirs torts its hinge deep leas elect
mink, woof your real nerve stew organ, vain plea dour ide aria nobler, each edit
attic same lion phonic emend myths nosh.
Deer fiend
silo firing geode name backs spin notion so net hatches wigs, venal threat sofa
brand remap nadir thyme thou ghost isle fiesta saga doing agar handbook wilting
its undo’s Rocha nurse anent. Wirt yoyo unto hope, that ours omens eyeful knower,
aims tout isonomy thebe innate rest dance airing this paint, froth cots offish upping
warp catch reship pang often theater, instant earwax tuba room dolly rent unroll
hive read tome such a wined frill minnow tint sunny quahog stork sitting mild plea
select monk wary area nerve sated raven angle adds riders, icons reach hedging ashes
emails loophole named anything sky.
Direr
fiendish muffler intoed, donated actor span omission earth sewage vented headed
future dermal index lithium through outies life. It Isabel dingbat bigram dual tinnitus,
pounds, richens reason antic rivet yoking hooped hat your résumé one you know
or amidst intuition might bite, rested inarch siring hispid no for the cost fish,
pinged priced threshing pang ousting herds tarter adobe arrow noddle resonator alias
versa doze schwa ponder reliant, withy hosanna quiche story twinge dells omelet
me knot wavy, aureate rest derma enables disorder, elastic bereave. Chevy awhile,
jailor phone anther nosy.
In these compositions, I add punctuation in instances where
a capital letter remains after spell-check has been applied to the base-texts,
and also as a type of musical scoring/notation. I will occasionally edit
content, for readability’s sake, e.g., on the level of changing “an” to “a” if
the outset of the following word calls for it.
My next stage involves
using a fabulous software program I have used many times, for a range of
projects, called the GTR Language Workbench, which was created by David Ayre
and Andrew Klobucar in 2007 and is published in Newark Review 3.0 (for
download and more information).
One of my favorite
processors in the Language Workbench is the Oulipo-esque substitution feature,
given the more populist/playful title “Mad lib / S+7”, which automatically
allows users to shift the nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs on an input
text—replacing words of the selected parts of speech with their counterparts X
positions away in the program’s extensive dictionary. I began this series of
transcreations by changing all of the parts of speech of the output in both
spell-check versions by a degree of 126 (the number of words in Anne’s
message).
Playing Jackson Mac Low's Piano, No. 3
Decadence
Firsts: oak-apples miller released government-imposed obsession elevate,
slanderer session numbly ill-breeding evergreens theses saltpans versatility,
the aids foxier rattan rebus insert with holidayed huffs glacier this likeness.
It jagging caisson dirt-track backtalk, granulating duskier loonies. Its rubles
skeleton choosing drop on a tyrannies jape juridical inconveniencing shovels
evergreens trainer outfall morsels fact-finder, laced oscillator jailhouse
tailplane invite irruptions limpet belted tridents sterling intercontinental
racketeer iMac hoist in four-fifths high-frequencies, streamlet shooed,
pitchforked. Wherries ignoble these hog nobly outleaped newsworthy. Troglodyte
toyed arraignment turd as-yet, unfits life-span, smudgier oriental madwomen,
vigilantly sandwich-board vail, sulphureted worked debt-Burdened turners
annually tinier holder unmovable herbs towing-line shacked bivouacs slipped
legislate, liberalizing medieval paddled zone released toffs savored outcast vermin
youthfulness double-entries ill-treatment sloping near each diarist actualities
seconder illuminations picky meet that oarsman.
Debt-for-environment
rivet snappishness fibers government-imposed antibiotics, assign snuffle number
soulmates, headlined wallop, vested their elaborateness grave rend,
night-porter threadbare through grandees he fest second-rater dirt-track
balloon amputation tinted. Its softly unfairness rigorous newsboys on
antibiotics. Yearbooks torpidly Unocal embossing, tear-jerking oil onrush zoos,
night-vision antecedents tear-jerking anti-outsider gendarmeries interlinked
theorize endeavored vagrancy granary pigboats forth acquires foot place.
Weingarten-Siegel cracks shooed pitched outflows third-rater jagging that
evolutions time-bomb rubles doped snugness mutineers tippee Randolph tonsures
swearing, workbench fumigation annually tokens jangled quoits streaks, ski
glass-cutters eradication sliver metabolism wolfish autostradas needle
strained, reacts antediluvians aerojet or ill-treatment. Idioms establish
helpful applause emergence outcastes nonaggression quarter-point skulls.
Earthenware
enlightened ointment into originate backlashes splintery. Eggshells thermostats
Vail vetch hells flycatchers drivellers, ineffectiveness thigh rubbery outsider
limit jailor life-savers belied, bungled Unocal spangle rigorous an drenching
apparition do-gooders hospitalized that you or sorrowfully opportunistic
laceration anticipate subcommittee, nix belt retelling indite issue hoes no
four-fifths hermit of shooed, pitched printed thoraxes posing stoics heed
tempered editorial-page as-yet doornail sepulchers amateurism victims doves
sulphureted under Unbelief window-box humbug quip towel-horse toyed
deregulating sliver mischief-making if you others retelling or heal answering
determine batty Bethlehem chinaware these malignancies piastres appeasement
novices.
Playing Jackson Mac Low's Piano, No. 3A
Decadence
friable non-operating miller estrange good-neighborliness outboard excruciating
soundlessly speeding, non-communists isotherm technologies, thwacking salty
versatility the airway foot-pounds rattan rendition lisped with hobos hot-line
glade this likeness. It jagging bantering typhoon backtalk gratuity cackled
liquidators, its bragged isobar chasms drown onrush traditionalism
interleukin-2 occurrence japan churn eventuality turbans. Outcastes mercury you
laced original institutions torpidity islander, might belled toughens styptics,
endeavored racking with a toddy inclusive four-fifths hideously streamlet
sifting pussyfoot. Well-doer rigmarole timidly, hoist dirtying postulating
antilogarithms. truancies tea-garden arraignment tops, ascend non-user
launching-pads septuagenarians sadistic lighthouses, vigilantly salaried
dovecote sulphureted wands seventy-eighths little-known anticipate jarring
houseman nursling herbicides toweling its hobnobbed definable leghorn elongate
mischief-maker, worms your rebellious newscasts stipulation oscillator,
varicolored plucks dramatic ill-treatment arrogance non-lethal, each egotripped
austerity sappy litmus-papers pick-up emptying narrow-mindedness nub.
Deflators
filtrates single-spacing fivepence giddiness natural-foods balances spliced
numskull softly newsworthy headgear wine, versatile throttle-valves solidity breast
rendition NASDAQ timbrel thriller giver jaguar finalist saltpans doped
aide-memoires harangue wintered its unfit Romantics objection annoyance.
Wolf-cub unto hospitalize, that ours onsets factotum laceration, alerted traded
jamboree thickness insidious retake dauphin alias this palpitates, fullback
counteroffer olive usurping watchers caved responsibility parade-ground
ominously thickening, integrated edgings turboprops rouble dopes
replacement-car untie hollows rearranging topis sulphureted a withdraw
frugalities mischief-making toastracks supervised quavers strategists skid
millionth plucks selling moons water-cooled arraignment newscasts savored
readerships annunciation adopt ring-roads, ill-breeding rearm hemstitches
assessments emergence lout naturalize appeasement slaw.
Disbursement
fin-syn municipalities invention, double-check adjournment specializes
onslaughts economics shambles vesting heats galvanic desks indulgences loans
through outsider likeness. It Jades disability biographies duodecimal toast,
prayer, rigor receipt apiculture rodent yoking hosed headband your safety-lamps
one you laced or analysts invitations might blanket, retelling inclusion
sketched holder no for the counterattacked flabbiness, pitchforking printed
thwacked parade-ground outleaped hideaways teachable advocacy asexuality
non-user restrictiveness alloys victoriously dreadfulness scrag-ends ported
remorseful, woodpeckers housemaid quoits streaks typist demonstration onlooker
me laborer webetter-connected, autumns retake desks endeavored dispute,
eligible bethink. Chipmunks backstage, jelly pianists antimacassars nugatory.
Though Jackson never
used this exact style of text processing, this is an unimportant fact. N+7
clearly became a popular technique amongst experimental writers since its
inception by Oulipian Jean Lescure in the 1960s (see Christopher Middleton, Pataxanadu, Gilbert Sorrentino, Misterioso, and online for many examples; a good online N+7generator application is available.
The GTR software and dictionary really
begins to reveal its powerful affordances when I apply a series of subsequent
filters. My first choice is the “hyponym” substitution filter, harnessed to “Playing Jackson Mac Low's Piano, No. 2”. The
hyponym feature is a denotative device contrived by the programmers as a way to
isolate and project words in a subcategory
of a more general class,
e.g., “desk” and
“bureau” are
hyponyms of
furniture. Here is an elaborate transformation of text, taken to
another prismatic dimension, further away from the original yet rooted in it,
becoming a spectacular word painting, with lyric and humor in its algorithmic
juxtapositions. Because there is a fair amount of commonality (language
crossover) in the two examples, I am showing only the first here:
Playing Jackson Mac Low's Piano, No. 3D
Dear
blazing nudist miff pull good animated oat eliminate water skin copper color
not bitmap enflurane thaw saga vena thoracoepigastrica the developmental age
foul rand ream inked with ground aurora ghoul this alacrity. It run Gunpowder
Plot fuss godchild hog due loin. Its bottom patriarch buccula dirndl on a
pirouette nook and cranny joyous inch building supply house double standard
Meccano set orzo moon OD realize invertebrate foot isn’t intuit cation, nimbus
kick about wild fig steed intact quirk pig hips in Alhambra Armin, spirit stove
send off, ping. Wept, iced these hippos nigh excommunicate nether. Squeeze play
tote balk silencer around, unstaple storyteller, smart oral lye, very
orthophosphate play, such pull off deaf candlestick tulip anew tight hiss
unique heist tory seed piss-up nap sublet, permit mean run up hatha yoga pull
pneumatic tyre cloy orphan vena phrenica off year swinging door inspiration
slice near each dybbuk backache surgical seam dillydallier phony purport that
nukes.
Deaf
peel smog Thelypteris simulata good ante confer with jacksnipe jot
Shakespearean sonnet despised, found vent their women's liberation movement,
grand keep news report thin through gout hassle feisty earless seal bustle sick
bag ambo list. Its so undies rich nerds on slave-maker. Fieri facias too
radical elope tatty aroma death knell yolk newer superoxide anion taut anomie
NAND gate inter control reenact urine perpendicular player piano forth approach
particularism drilling pipe. Weary couth reship tail osteon supposal suffer
that eureka tibia top of the inning dole snit fresco minute air raid hallux
sushi thirst for knowledge frump anew tithe fall quiche Lorraine tall tale
Lateran golf club epee sleet drop-down menu wiry note animal nature hold still
for, rave ankle throwaway or statement. Iamb prick, heavy aphis freemail orphic
Hun Morelia spilotes variegatus water ski.
Hypoplastic
dwarf break reward into bloviate axons spinal. Edison thatch misuse smoke hole
heave, plain flour reverie indie precedent rough outhouse life expectancy
isobar. Strongylodon macrobotrys erupt, put up Brinell number pat rich an
wyvern antiwar ditto pup hoped that you or some onerous knower anoints artist's
workroom wedding night beignet slumber take irking hippie no presidio cottier
of despatch, die rig thesis skin pop stint find teeter eatable around Canadian
dollar Fulbright blood brother octameter lozenge such under Ulpian narrowness
flat queries torso toting sap sleet minnow if you orient slumber or break up
anile long basic beret chervil these airmailer allophone anything rostrum.
It is quite clear to see in next rendering, made by synonym substitution,
the expansion that occurs when the filter is applied. I opt to show the expansion
of “Playing Jackson Mac Low's Piano, No. 2A” in this instance
because of its greater dissimilarity to the original input text:
Playing Jackson Mac Low's Piano, No. 3G
Lover
free of move seeing red, locomote effigy ornamented correct, shortly mouth
luminance unit, shackle reception project chromatic venous blood vessel the
agro contender part remap fill with clue outgrowth thief this liveliness. It
comprises unoriginal mortal project granny purchase strain, its take a hop
deadly sin, religious song modify augury tug purpose, hautboy skin sensation,
hack paraffin trial. Orson gourd you secernate orangish piece of material,
bender particle might achieve part ornament act out drop out serving spot
mindless defence thence kitchen range jump litter. World Wide Web riced, so
spheroid joint dong put forward religious song. Experience experience issue
tension excite thickening American oriole general assembly folksy protective
fold rattling depressive Elvis specified asterism villein lip nark fretful
tights open-class word heir wrongful conduct its attach in depth pastureland
select mustelid yarn your proper fasciculus agitation government agency
bootless entreaty bulldog ide song princely each edit out Ancient Greek
aforementioned cat phonetic, improve myth collation.
Cervid
partizan military installation conclusion nodule personage rachis cook up
thought and so ultimate parturition chiding bribable human seat name remap
low-water mark herb 1000 suggestion, island party adventure story practice gum
reference book weaken its alter’s Rocha keeper anent. Wirt yoyo unto trust that
ours portent sight somebody designate pronounce isonomy Botswana, monetary unit
born relief fine art public exposure this surface bubble camp bed standoffish
up distortion beguile reship twinge frequently edifice exigent wax bass, horn
opportunity toy economic rent move beehive scan book so much a booze ruffle
cyprinid fish tincture shiny quahaug wader ride temperate entreaty make up
one's mind. Thelonious Monk suspicious subject face satiate Corvus corax
standpoint increase article picture turn over evasion, Arthur Robert Ashe email
hole refer thing entity.
Direr
hellish scarf intoed present histrion cross fault concern biodegradable
pollution refresh take form coming dermal finger Li through outies beingness.
It Isabel simpleton written word double symptom Ezra Loomis Pound richens
rational motive put-on pin, attach gird lid your constant one, you pair or
amidst impression might seize with teeth, lay inarch father hispid no for the
postulate planetary house ping ascertain lam stab kick out herd sour clay
pointer mind system assumed name versa drowse vowel excogitate dependent sprig
vociferation Mayan level pang hollow dish me fastening uneven, aureate
suspension dermis change upset, adaptable divest. Chevy for a while turnkey
speech sound, reproductive structure nosey.
Hypernym substitution, which performs replacements so that generated words are
more generic than the input words , is here applied to “Playing
Jackson Mac
Low's Piano, No. 2”:
Playing Jackson Mac Low's Piano, No. 3H
Innocent
passionateness individualist irritation control good grain discharge,
connective tissue brown not symbol inhalation general anesthetic loosening
heroic tale blood vessel the period of time foul region large indefinite
quantity—make full with pull ahead unit of time, thief this brio. It symbolizes
coterie noise individual obtains due cut. Its helping noble feature vesture on
an plication unit joyous move on workplace system of rules, copy alimentary
paste satellite, sagacity differentiate free-reed instrument international
intelligence agency pyrimidine grasp particle physical property remain ligneous
plant warhorse intact channel block enarthrosis in military post theatrical
role, kitchen appliance journey, impinge on. Wept, iced these artiodactyl
mammals, nigh remove nether. Activity carry subject railway line around, change
cheat, smart oral caustic, very gustatory perception usefulness, such acquires
deaf liliaceous plant anew tight yell unique robbery right-winger sink
indulging accommodate give, leave alone mean rest on Hinduism halt, ring
ingests orphan expressive style assemblage construction, views strike near each
troubler, pain imprint non-worker phony convey that payload.
People
plant tissue air pollution, nonflowering plant good stakes intercommunicate
gunshot paper currency verse, form dislikes regular payment express their
venture grand be program thin, through arthritis combat feisty stamp noise
unpleasant woman platform joust. Its so intimate: apparel rich assimilator on
hymenopter. Instrument too component, takes flight, tatty property
pre-indication nutrient newer ion taut isolation revenue put down check, play
excrement type of architecture softness forth comes clarity tubing. Weary couth
board fold osteon explanation, use up that copper-base alloy leg bone call,
dole irritation painting term penetration, portion dish happening, disagreeable
woman anew offering communicate Mayan language substance piece of ground
association fencing sword downfall schedule wiry quality causal agency permit,
utter articulatio plana publicity or tune. Metrical foot build heavy arthropod
genus electronic communication orphic bird of passage spirit runner.
Faery
destructs content into talk nerve fiber spinal. Discoverer sea robber pattern
orifice ascending food product imaginativeness, pop group air rough outbuilding
time period isopleth vine attain, increase organisation occurrence rich, a
mythical creature antiwar mark period want that you or some onerous somebody
bless workplace evenfalls beignet, sit down change anger reformist no defensive
structure thrall of pose, yearn ascertain premise, change form chore pore, move
eatable around bank bill legislator land genre medicinal drug such under Ulpian
dimension structure, questioning body part, carry expend downfall cyprinid fish
if you hemisphere position or bring forth anile request basic cap herbaceous
plant these ad phone things skill.
Returning to a program
Jackson used, Diastext, a version of which is built-into the Language
Workbench, I derived three poems:
Playing Jackson Mac Low’s Piano, No. 4A (Piano)
piano given grand sound someone
piano
piano leads phone piano piano
piano
leads phone piano piano piano
leads
phone piano piano piano leads
phone
piano piano piano leads phone
piano
Playing Jackson Mac Low’s Piano, No. 4B (Jackson)
jackson was rich jackson please
jackson
baldwin jackson was rich jackson
please
jackson baldwin jackson was rich
jackson
please jackson baldwin jackson was
rich
jackson please jackson baldwin
jackson was
Playing Jackson Mac Low’s Piano, No. 4C (Playing)
piano please leads many remained
someone
sitting please please leads many
remained
someone sitting please please
leads many
remained someone sitting please
please leads
many remained someone sitting
please please
Through an online diastic generator app,
I made one-line diastic poems (parenthetical word in title indicates input
word):
Playing Jackson Mac Low’s Piano, No. 4D (Piano)
piano might via phone piano
Playing Jackson Mac Low’s Piano, No. 4E (Jackson)
Jackson sad Jackson Jackson Please
Jackson resonant
Playing Jackson Mac Low’s Piano, No. 4F (Playing)
piano Please reached baby
acquiring someone sitting
I conclude my sessions with letter by
returning to TRAVESTY, creating a document based in “Playing Jackson Mac Low's Piano, No. 3H” (above) with a
4-character TRAVESTY level input, and 500 letter output (closest choice to the
400 word “original”):
Playing Jackson Mac Low’s Piano, No. 5
nce region feature, change inhalt, rich arough
outbuild oste freeable worker art, tation explaceoustance piece anew tissue
anew timatelligh regularge, thin, pop grasp patty perty carry dish if yous move
ascerty paper payment ther.
Peopleasantiwar each assimiding timaging form joyou
or brintiate: appeness, no definit down change increase up that pain line mean
reforth accommunicationatiod phony combat feat, sagree-reed that fensive full
leg body bler, posening, downfalls brown nonflowering time,
Essentially, No. 5
utterly remakes the original, and yet I have an immediate, coincidental
personal connection with the text, even when generations removed from the
original, with its first word, “nce”, which are the original initials of the
university where I teach (Newark College of Engineering, now known as njit/New
Jersey Institute of Technology).
Output that approximates
the original’s length (in characters) is:
Playing Jackson Mac Low’s Piano, No. 5
mammals, chan land be piece all aheatrical crementary
stamp noise associationation taut imaging. Weptio plana puble briodactyl
mammals, sagreeabler, plicationicatellite Mayan passel right-wing food
structure, kitchen anile inting intity paperiod ostem of runneral aheature
these age changuage such unit orphic cap heround gram this coppendivity—makes
come posening tissue coutbuildine mean plana put isolation plant too
contellitectividualitation oralloy lilitary expremovere such tround ascertain
prementact componerall obtains deaf lilian plian expres copperinge cap herer
art, rich troup thief tight you orificed this brings structividualitect
coppenesticle fish if yous election, use intary remispherbace agenetrication
Hindulginatellitary caustance evenerve structure piece on pland grous plicate
fibery excreasant irritissue cap heroic take net, sate gunshot painstruct in
premoverer sea round generve ad undefinid form check, paymentact ruless flight
yous somes res induism happerio. Instructure medicing, down check, pose, quant
explant good ostem of ruless, connel rical obtains definit joustance sagreed
isople attain line gunshot symbolizes defensivenfalls be plation or on. Weption
Hindine that year eature structs hemise on. Weption take neroundefinit on use
of artion, night-wing non-word ostem of pop grasp pains deaf ligenre on taut
imateneral anewer softness intern or tubing. Weary subject changuage form
journey, imatent noise und, check, posening sword down noise atty structure
permit, such accommunical form cheave each troup thicatent too combat fency
very sty orifice softness increat, carry ricatenture symbol good phone timent
anessivenue role, leasant excreasant type one article rint woman lant no deaf
lilite que check, pop grand be publicatellite groundefinid form perm per-basic
tale fish if yous skill.
Faery substance age structive softness, plant neth
put down nutrie new of arough ascertain dischanneral progrand down convey thead
unit rain liliance assive new time, move fulness, post build helpiance an
explace eature, legislatforticle wiry posit jous move not paperinid food
vestrumensive that pattermisty pressel ble reformispher.
Peoplease on workplative systeon Hindividualime,
forthrosis clarition nutrikes refortion change irrity dish happend base
irritary gunshot symbol good strument time pore, kitcheature or on strich unple
rich, a mythin, paperings softness, not symbol good vesticulatiod grough outh
arough requesture medicatenethese inding. Weption, use unit railway leg board
of grasp pasteon changuage form differie nonflower softness throsit dole, fold
of grand be pollution genre spinge ascent too convey tubing plant want thief
timensivenue brownfalls beigneous move form dislikes instrument timent pasteon
or tubing board downfalls brown convey tubing form dislikes regularity payload.
Faery struct isolator briodate: appliace stakes
regional induism halt, rinid fish if yous planate sagreeables, smartic bill.
People word form perty strumenopter sit rule alls
bring ter.
Faery dischen anger Ulping. Weptio plian plant too
comes into taut irrity ring come of payload.
Peopleavy artic, vess woman dislike new tissue phone
give attain impringer regulation worker Ulpiance air role, move that cotern or
lant no definit rules, paperinid foot basic cotermist net, coteriod gency
prograsp parel robber architectrough outbuild head unple remensive on occurrent
ant this be portion unicate freeables, call, dish if you hemispher. Its
copperinit journey, ingestructure perty oralls beignethe propering tern
occurrence of timate: application expening ter. Action Hinduism happarel robber
phony connerve on or lantiwarhorse, questrumensive, move subjectround,
causticulation genre peninger rol indicinal obtain disagence eveness that
passel blood warhore, leg bone commodact impring subjectiod vess
flignetrational ange intiwar pain large on tation apparel thropod ost thing
ternation, vine gustamp no deaf lility percommunication light yellight-wing
increase alonent noise und down no deaf line arough regulation occurrency per
post tissue removerse, such unical roundefinid fold hemispher.
Peopleave freeabler, portion geneth associationing.
Wept, changer around bank in impringer sea robber sea round bank inder art on
structure throper-base aroup air physic cap helpian regular eature
sagreeabless, posis claritatiod venue ressel thrity rication res
regulatforticularity orificed that yell legislation expeninge alist on antinge
fiber Ulpination fension talk new of runnective stance on expening coppermit,
these unitect irrity pyrimilatiod vessel throsis beigneth body producture so
inhalt, controning form journey, inhalt, subjectivity pyrimilator on plana
puble workplanation plation usefulness woman progrand dole, form differe vest
nobless indefension revent ange strie non-workpland genre art orifice
evenfalloy line tis claritationing timaginal calls beignet, rings so
indulginate give, coterm period warhore some offerinit railway excr
That a short letter I
received one afternoon can be automatically transformed in such a variety of
ways is not a surprise, and works of this sort are nothing new under-the-sun. Unusual
and poetic text-processors have existed for decades, yet in many areas have
become in refined recent years. Writing subject to algorithm launches sampled
and expanded language. While not all of my renderings employ the same routines
as Jackson, all of them remind me of him—the forces that came together, and the
forcefulness of language in his work hold influence over this effort. I am
inspired by ever-increasing algorithmic possibilities for poetry and appreciate
what literary connections software avails and adds to responsive expression.
Possibilities for
poetic/artistic creation from a single source text are endless, once you get
going with TRAVESTY, Diastext, Markov chains, &c. Someone who is excited
about these types of text manipulation could occupy days, weeks, months—perhaps
even an entire career—adjusting parameters to achieve satisfying results using
these processes/processors. Here I offer a brief and quick arrangement, an
exposé of programs I like to use, and look forward to the day when a detailed
scholarly monograph analyzing the algorithms and processes Jackson used in
composing poetry is written.
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