Hypertext art

Create a group of related web pages that experiment with the linear and non-linear structure of hypertext and with the browser environment itself (scrolling, linking, framing, navigation) to narrate, depict, and communicate using text, image, sound, and/or video.

The project should aspire to be art: something we can look at carefully, discuss, think through, and appreciate. (So a functional page such as a restaurant's menu is not in the scope of this project. But if the menu had some intent beyond it's function as a menu, like deconstructing the dishes into ).


Jorge Luis Borges, 1941:

"The concept Borges described in 'The Garden of Forking Paths' — in several layers of the story, but most directly in the combination book and maze of Ts'ui Pen — is that of a novel that can be read in multiple ways, a hypertext novel. ... Not only did he invent the hypertext novel — Borges went on to describe a theory of the universe based upon the structure of such a novel. Then he sketched out, in the actions of the protagonist, one particular existential philosophy which motivates action within this universe, a universe in which everything that is possible does indeed occur in some branch of reality." — New Media Reader, p. 29, on The Garden of Forking Paths by Jorge Luis Borges
The Borges framing is useful because it grounds hypertext in narrative and structure, not just technology. Students often think of "a website" as a container for content — the goal here is to flip that and think of the structure itself as the work.

Suggestions (Satisfy at least two)


What to submit:
Upload all files (HTML, images, etc.) to your Reed server space and submit the URL to the starting page. Every page should be reachable from that URL — do not submit local files.
The "non-trivial navigation" requirement is the key one to push on. A three-page site with a nav bar is not enough — the question is whether the way you move through the work is itself meaningful. Refer students to the art examples for what this can look like.

Ideas

Students often start too big (an entire novel, a complex game) or too small (three pages with arrows between them). Push them toward one strong structural idea executed well. The browser-as-medium prompt is especially productive — students forget that the chrome around the content is also part of the experience.

References — Hypertext Art

Look at these before you start. Notice not just what they contain but how you move through them.


Viewable with HTML only


For future reference — requires technology beyond HTML


Additional references in the class schedule.

Section 1 starting points: Lialina (pure structural navigation), YHCHI (timing and text as the only material), Heath Bunting (the link as medium — every word is one), jodi.org (the browser environment itself as material), Shulgin Form Art (HTML elements as sculpture), Vuk Ćosić (constraint as creative strategy). Section 2 is for discussion of what becomes possible with server-side and JavaScript — good to return to when those topics are covered. Skawennati and the Obadikes are particularly strong for discussing who gets to be on the web and why that matters.

Criteria

We will look at and discuss the work together in class. Come ready to talk about your choices not just what you made, but why the structure is the way it is.


What we're looking for Questions to ask yourself
Intentional structure Is the way I move through this work meaningful, or arbitrary? (Poetic, unexpected..etc?)
Use of the medium Does this use something specific about the browser and hypertext or could it just as easily be a printed document?
Coherence Do the pages feel like they belong together? Is there a consistent logic even if it's a logic of disruption?
Ambition Did you take a risk? Does it surprise you?
Art What does the work do/say
The criteria table is meant to give students language for critique, not a rubric to optimize for. The key distinction is "use of the medium" — this is what separates hypertext art from a regular website with links.