"In Carving in Possibilities, Larsen displays a blurred image of the face of Michelangelo's David and overlays it with invisible hotspots triggered by the pointer, displaying color coded texts from different speakers, making a sharp 'carving' sound, and sharpening the focus of the image gradually over the course of 40 triggers. This approach allows readers to 'carve out' different textual combinations and readings of the poem— a fitting example of Larsen's interest in metaphorical interfaces for her works.
Even though the variations in color, size, and font indicate different voices and add weight to some of the lines, they can be distracting from the powerful statements they make. Focusing on the text and its location leads to insight on this work by one of Western civilizations' most important sculptors, credited for saying things like 'Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.'" -- from I Love E-Poetry
Experiencing the Work
Visitors click the Ruffle "play" button to begin the work, then "Click to Start." The work requires cursor movement in order to activate hover effects and finish the poem. It is not navigable by keyboard or other non-mouse tools. None of the work's text is available to screen reading software or similar tools. Text is evenly divided between serif and sans-serif fonts. In addition, text crediting the sound designer is small and hard to read. Text is overlapping in the background of the piece, and some of the text that appears in the main experience is low contrast. As the visitor moves the cursor over the work, there is some ambient music and a sudden "chopping" sound effect as though cutting marble. These sound effects provide atmosphere but are repetitious and not necessary to understanding the content of the text.
2 COPIES IN THE NEXT
Published in January, 2001 by frAme in Issue 6.
Nottingham Trent University, with the permission of Sue Thomas, gave this copy of the work to the Electronic Literature Lab in Spring 2016.
PUBLICATION TYPE
Journal
COPY MEDIA FORMAT
Web
The Electronic Literature Collection Volume 1
Published in January, 2006 by Electronic Literature Organization.
The ELO gave this copy of the work to the Electronic Literature Lab in 2018.
PUBLICATION TYPE
Anthology
COPY MEDIA FORMAT
Web