Separation

February 4, 2012 By 1 Comment

“Separation” by Annie Abrahams

I saw someones reaction to this piece of electronic literature earlier this semester, and found myself wanting to read it myself. I am very curious of the body and minds functions with the computer, as I know I am constantly hunching and working over one. As if the computer has feelings itself, I’ve never thought of overworking it, yet overworking my body due to using a computer. Separation was written by Annie Abrahams, an electronic video and performance piece writer.

At first I clicked too fast, and a sign flashed in front of me saying ‘You don’t have the right attitude in front of a computer.. You either click too fast, you use too much force, or you’re too tense…etc.’ I slowed down and a text similar to a poem started to appear on the page, one word with each click. The text reminded me of a typewriter.

This text is written in response to Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) while in the hospital. RSI victims forget about their own bodies, and constantly ‘battle’ with the computer as if it was their own. There are incorporated flash exercises every 7-8 lines, which provide examples of relief such as stretching your arms, relaxing your shoulders, breathing. There is a countdown strip of about 30 seconds which streams across the page, blocking you from continuing any further.

The lines that I found particularly intriguing were:

“Your body became mine,

but mine, mine

muscles, nerves

overused, abused, neglected

You don’t feel my pain.”

As I was reading these lines it made me slow down and click after reading each word several times, allowing the next word to appear. These words caught my attention and made me realize how overworked and overused our bodies and minds truly are- and we take it for granted. The slide that immediately appears after these lines is “Rest” which then leads you to a visual exercise of putting your head on your legs, hanging your arms to the side, and simply breathing. At the end of the text, it states “How to relax a computer? How to massage a computer?” and with one click, a yellow circle appears with what looks like text that I cannot read because it moves across the page so quickly. I tried several times to get to this point “Separation” but failed to comprehend its last word.

In response to this piece of work, it’s contradicting that it is electronic literature because its underlying message is the separation of the human from the computer. It triggered my mind to think about how much our world is revolved around computers and technology today, that there are event courses on how to become efficient with technology as its growing and becoming more efficient and necessary daily. However, as I knew nothing about RSI before reading ‘Separation’ Annie Abrahams also enabeled me to research about this ailment.  This is my favorite piece of electronic literature I have come across while taking this class. I tried to search YouTube videos on it as well, but Annie Abrahams (the author) only speaks French so I couldn’t understand what she was saying.

I wanted to find out more about RSI as I had never heard of it before. Wikipedia defines it complexly as “(also known as repetitive stress injury, repetitive motion injuries, repetitive motion disorder (RMD), cumulative trauma disorder(CT), occupational overuse syndrome, overuse syndrome, regional musculoskeletal disorder) is an injury of the musculoskeletal and nervous systems that may be caused by repetitive tasks, forceful exertions, vibrations, mechanical compression (pressing against hard surfaces), or sustained or awkward positions.” I kept reading wikipedias definition and examples of RSI and have come to conclusion that we all must suffer from it “sitting in the same position for an extended amount of time, reading or doing tasks for an extended period of time, carrying heavy items, etc.” Although Annie Abrahams doesn’t suggest the treatments for RSI specifically, wikipedia claims that “rest, massages, exercises and specific braces” will further reduce the painful symptoms of RSI.

In response to Seperation, it made me truly think how much I need to slow down simply- and to invest and take in information that is constantly reiterated to me. I need to slow down in all aspects of life. It wasn’t just a poem and an example of electronic literature, but it was also a medical related piece which further focused on all humans and their possiblities of being effected by RSI- something that I can definetly connect with. Now with that said, I’m going to take a break and step away from the computer.

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“Separation:” A Message of Connection

January 25, 2012 By Leave a Comment

http://collection.eliterature.org/2/works/abrahams_separation.html

Before this class, my experience with electronic literature was incredibly limited, barely ranging beyond internet blogs and fiction produced for e-readers. Needless to say, my mind has been opened to an entire world of literature that I had never even considered before, particularly when it comes to works that require one to interact directly in order to consume it.

The first work of this medium that truly captured my attention was “Separation” by Annie Abrahams, from the Electronic Literature Collection (Volume 2). Still adjusting to the concept of a work that invites one to interact to such a degree that they become as integral to the work’s meaning as the words and images themselves, I was incredibly impacted by the content of “Separation.”

The title page of Abrahams’s work explains that the text’s primary purpose is to inspire physical responses in sufferers of Repetitive Strain Injury (often people that work with computers), which will in turn alleviate pain and help with physical recuperation. Its overall intention, though, is not only to rehabilitate people physically, but emotionally, as well.

Unlike some of the works that we’ve studied in this class, this text’s presentation is entirely linear. Using a yellow, featureless background (which remains blank until one impatiently clicks at it, thinking it to be frozen) and Lucida typeface, the work resembles the error screen of a Windows computer and sets the bleak, lonely tone. User beware, however: if one clicks too rapidly, the screen will freeze and an alert will appear, slowly explaining that one doesn’t “have the right attitude in front of [his or her] computer” (Abrahams).

The text itself appears one word at a time, testing one’s patience as one tries to refrain from clicking too rapidly so as to avoid the alert window. While this in itself does not sound terribly difficult, it can prove to be quite a challenge, primarily due to the fact that many of us are from a society where we are constantly bombarded by information via the media and cyberspace, and thus must learn how to consume said information as quickly as possible. This single work attempts to revert this habit and, in some ways, succeeds, at least momentarily.

The work’s text itself tells the story of the complex and troubling state of being emotionally detached from other people, particularly people that one has been intimate, even in love with. It expresses how people, despite their longing to get close to others, can unwillingly hold others at a distance due to emotional trauma and/or other psychological issues. The slow, deliberate pacing of the text, in this way, seems almost representative of how people with emotional issues have to take slow, cautious steps when entering relationships.

Finally, another striking feature of the work is its interactive aspect, in which the entire window freezes and an alert pops up with an animated diagram and instructions on how to do things like “show pain” or “show courage” (Abrahams). It encourages sufferers of Repetitive Strain Injury and casual readers alike to do the unthinkable: stand up, move about, and feel true emotion while using the computer! While the instructions seem to be almost condescending in their dissection of how to relax and move, they are, at the same time, almost comforting, like a mother guiding a child through aspects of daily life that he or she is wont to forget. And don’t we forget?

I believe that that may be the overall message of this text: a reminder that computers and the media can cause one to become so absorbed in receiving information that he or she loses connection with his or her self. Likewise, emotional issues can mirror this, forcing people to unintentionally distance themselves from others regardless of how they truly feel. “Separation,” then, is not just a work, but a practice in remembering to move, to live, and to remain connected with oneself, others, and the world, despite the distractions of this life.

Its interactive nature in turn reminds us to interact.

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