ON SURFACES THAT HAVE NO MEMORIES

ORE OF THE INTERNET by Franziska Ostermann questions conventional forms of text presentation and interaction in the digital age. Her original poem of the same title is reinterpreted and expanded into a multidimensional virtual space by combining photographs, spoken word audio, soundscapes, animation, and text. The ten videos in the series explore the possibilities that emerge at the intersection of poetry and digital art.

The artist’s signature white aesthetic shapes the spaces that her poetry sculptures occupy. Animated self-portraits of Ostermann recite the poem, accompanied by verses and phrases in the serif typeface ‘Franziska,’ creating an intriguing disconnect between digital and physical realities.

"The gaps between words in a poem are a white room. With ORE OF THE INTERNET, I invite the spectator to dive into these white spaces and gaps and to experience what unfolds here among what I have created with language and visuals.

Lines of poetry become prompts that generate sound landscapes, which I then interweave and montage with visual elements. I record myself reading the poem, allowing my voice to emerge through a photograph that transforms into video. Portions of text become sculptural elements moving through the image space. The verses can be experienced from multiple angles, becoming a corporeal body that can never be entirely read at once and reflecting a poem’s ability to shapeshift."

– Franziska Ostermann