Generated or processed texts
Above: MA4 Story Generator by Geoff Davis (Micro Arts MA4 1985)
MA4 Story Generator – work shown above, see Geoff Davis Micro Arts MA4 Story Generator
I have been experimenting with computer generated text for a long time. My first release was the MA4 Story Generator for home micros, which was also available on Prestel, the UK nationwide teletext system. This was an endless generator of new stories from my original short story ‘Cow Boils Head’ about Mad Cow Disease BSE (another virus / prion – all of England’s cows were incinerated – so why do people moan about wearing face masks?).
This was exhibited at the LMFC London in 1985 and released nationally on Prestel, the pre-internet video text service in the UK (also available on ships).
Geoff Davis and Micro Arts have had several exhibitions recently. Visit the home page for more details.
See also new format art from my Micro Arts Group on elementum.art
Past Trees
These are my physical print books. The serialised ‘Death In The Bubble World‘ (from Em Publishing 1997-2000) will be republished 2022 with ‘remixes’ made using a sentiment analyser. Also a graphic card game using my creativity apps Notes Story Board and Story Turbo.
Nnn Goes Mobile (Juma Print 1994) is also getting exhumed, and might have a new name – Em Goes Mobile. Emily is the new protagonist. See what I did?
PEN International New Fiction (Quartet), edited by Peter Ackroyd. My short African Story. Lots of new writers, Ben Okri, Deborah Levy, Clare Boylan, Meira Chand, Tom McCarthy, Iain Sinclair. High profile book with a great party at the old Flood St HQ.
Nnn Goes Mobile, novel (Juma Print 1994). Cyberpunk, mildly satirical. Included Hereros oppressed genocidally in Namibia. Distributed by Forbidden Planet. Came with a computer game on disk, coded by Robert Mettler, which was on Arts Council UK Hub – this was released on a disk see below.
Death in the Bubble World
Death in the Bubble World is a short novel published by Em Foundation in the late 1990s, serialised in the books Em 1,2 and 3, edited by Karl Sinfield. Illustrated using 3D montage, also used on the cover.
Em was a literary book series (like Granta) with a music cassette and later CD of new bands. Also included Hanif Kureishi and others. There was a Bubble World online animation with music and effects designed by Paul Greenleaf (see images below). To be republished with ‘remixes’ generated version in 2022.
Death In The Bubble World (G Davis 1997) is now readable on this site
Easy Money Units – EMUs.
In the Bubble World story I invented an virtual currency called Easy Money Units or EMUs. This was stored in ‘handbags’ and was used for various dodgy deals conducted by small-time fraudsters, criminals and gangsters. At the time I thought it was a least plausible thing I had ever put in a story. So when cryptocurrency came along it seemed equally ridiculous.
The Green Eco Building Book
The Green Eco Building Book (Story Software). This came out of my time developing and building eco houses. I was a founder member of the UK Government’s Sustainable Development Commission (now nonexistant, that’s not very sustainable). 500 pages, everything from dry stone walling to solar power. Was converted into a large website BuildingDIY.com
Creativity Support Software CST – story board app
Story boarding and notes software with a large canvas and zooming interface (ZUI) software invented in my research Masters in Electronic Arts at Cat Hill Campus, Middlesex University. See original notes on the zooming application.
This software is commercially released as Story Lite (text only version) and Notes Story Board v2.2 (images and text, current version). Story Turbo has been retired.
Calm as a Dead Clam multimedia fiction using the new zooming interface with sort (Middlesex University).
Music
New project Metavista with Patryk Jaworski. This is new – an EP or album will appear sometime or other.
See also new format ‘Cube’ art on elementum.art