Alan Bigelow: Silence

"Silence" (A Digital Story in Seven Parts) uses the P22 "Cage Silence" font, which is inspired by John Cage's famous work 4'33". This font does not appear on screen or print. There is no vector or bit map information other than the period character. All of the information is searchable, but it is not visible unless you look at the source code.

This story plays with the idea of what a digital text is, and what it is not. Where is the text located? What does it say? The source code to the text is included in the piece, but it is in binary code and not immediately decipherable (it can be translated off-site using a binary code to text translator). The text of the piece is actually a quote from John Cage's book Silence. The quote is, "I have nothing to say, and I am saying it."

The audio file that accompanies the piece is exactly 4'33" long and absent of any sound.

Alan Bigelow writes digital stories and poems for the web. His work, installations, and conversations concerning electronic literature have appeared in many galleries, international competitions, festivals, and journals. In addition to teaching full-time at Medaille College, he has been a visiting online lecturer in Creative Writing and New Media at De Montfort University, UK.

You can see his work at http://www.webyarns.com.