Openned blog

Last Post On The Bugle

2007-04-04T22:48:00.000+01:00

This it it folks: the last post on the Openned blog. As of midnight tonight, Wednesday 4th April, you will need to venture to www.openned.com, the official, brand spanking new home of the Openned blog. Don't feel sorry for it - it gets the homepage all to itself.

Thanks to all of you who have visited regularly, and we look forward to your continuing visits on the Openned blog's new home, Openned.com

Steve & Alex, signing off
The Editors

Openned 8

2007-03-29T18:18:00.000+01:00

Click e-flyer for larger version.

The next Openned night, Openned 8, takes place on Thursday 5th April at 7.30pm in the basement of The Foundry on Great Eastern Street, London EC1 (nearest tube: Old Street). Click here for map.

Confirmed readers:
Allen Fisher
Kai Fierle-Hedrick
Michael Wallace-Hadrill
Frances Kruk
Aaron Wells
More TBA

We will also be launching Version 2 of Openned.com.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Version 2

2007-03-21T09:35:00.000Z

LAUNCHING 05/04/07

Openned.com: version 2

2007-03-19T10:14:00.001Z

You may have noticed that Openned.com has disappeared. This is entirely intentional and is the work of Joe 'The Manager' Davidian, who's busy redesigning the site to suit our evil plans. We'll let you all know as soon as it's done - there'll be plenty of ways to get involved with version 2.

Openned Seven

2007-02-19T20:32:00.000Z

We look forward to seeing you there. Please distribute this far and wide.

Happy new year

2007-01-08T15:47:00.000Z

Being as it is the New Year, we thought we'd let you know that the machine is turning its cogs once more, and Openned Seven is but a few weeks away. More details as we plan them. In the meantime, [this is not a plug] have a look at Jow Lindsay's blog, Everyone's Cup Of Tea. It's rather well written, and should keep you occupied until Big Brother starts evicting people.

Derrida: Ghost Dance

2006-12-13T22:46:00.000Z

6penned: Thats the 6th Openned reading

2006-11-07T00:04:00.000Z

OPENNED5 reminder

2006-10-31T12:04:00.000Z

Just a quick reminder that OPENNED5 takes place tomorrow at the Foundry in London. We have an excellent, varied line-up for the fifth reading, and we hope to see you all there.

Digg Jodi

2006-10-30T14:17:00.000Z

Chances are, if you're reading this blog you will have at some point come across Jodi. It's one of Steve's favourite websites, and I'm quite partial to it too.

So it's interesting to see what the people on Digg think about it.

For those of you who don't know what Digg is, it's basically a huge voting system, where people can submit pages they think are interesting or funny. Other users then click these links. If they like what they see, they 'Digg' it. The more diggs, the better the link does.

At the time of writing, Jodi had just under 200 diggs, by no means setting the world on fire, but definitely respectable. And it's compelling to see a relatively large-scale reaction to this type of writing. Some dismiss it as pretentious rubbish, others think it's just 'cool', one person refers to it as 'new media art'. A lot of commenters have posted about hidden messages and ASCII images in the code. They're reading this writing. There are speculative questions: does a reader's reaction to the site change when they see that it has been 'dugg' 200 times? Do the comments influence their own response in the same way critical acclaim can in the current publishing climate? Is there a sense of democracy of opinion, where every reading no matter how shallow is taken as valid because it counts for one digg?

I feel a response calling.

Bruce Sterling

2006-10-17T21:34:00.000+01:00

Its probably about time Bruce Sterlings excellent blog was linked to from Openned, here it is. I have book marked the page that is specifically about Arphid technology and art. I have taken a sample article from the blog and included it here just to promote "Spychips" further cause I think it is an excellent book.

"SPYCHIPS" PAPERBACK RELEASED BY PENGUIN/PLUME

Authors Predict Public Backlash as RFID Plans Reach Consumers En Masse

As the Penguin/Plume paperback version of the award-winning book "Spychips" hits bookstores this week, the authors are anticipating an intensified consumer backlash against companies like Procter & Gamble and Wal-Mart.

"You can't read the offensive corporate schemes revealed

in this book and not be infuriated with them," say authors Katherine Albrecht and Liz McIntyre.

The eye-opening work about the downsides of Radio Frequency

Identification (RFID) has already shaken the industry and prompted legislative initiatives worldwide. Now that a newly updated version is being distributed by a division of Penguin, the second-largest English-language trade book publisher in the world, it will circulate to an even larger audience.

RFID is a controversial technology that uses tiny microchips to track everyday objects, animals, and even people from a distance. These RFID microchips have earned the nickname "spychips" because each contains a unique identification number, like a Social Security number for things, that can be read silently and invisibly by radio waves.

"We've caught major companies red-handed proposing uses for the technology that most people would find frightening and abhorrent," say the authors. "We combed over 30,000 documents in putting this book together, and the evidence is airtight. They can't deny the patent applications on file at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and they can't retract their own words."

Revelations in the book include IBM’s “PERSON TRACKING UNIT” that can remotely scan the contents of women's purses and track unwitting members of the public through RFID-tagged objects they are wearing and carrying.

IBM suggests that marketers and government agents could use the device to scan people in places like retail stores, libraries, theaters, elevators, and even public restrooms. Other companies like Procter & Gamble, Phillips, NCR, and Bank of America are also implicated in "Spychips" through public documents that detail their own people tracking plans.

The book's social impact has been likened to that of Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring," which alerted a generation to the dangers of unbridled pesticide use. "Spychips" has earned critical acclaim and garnered a passionate following in privacy and civil liberties circles. Now its backing by Penguin/Plume and its availability in a low-cost paperback edition will take it to the next level of public awareness.

Here is the forward written by Bruce himself:
here it is.

See you at Openned 5

More flyer madness

2006-10-15T20:52:00.000+01:00

OPENNED5

2006-10-13T20:52:00.000+01:00

We're gearing up for a fifth night, 1st November at our home, The Foundry. It looks set to be a good one - e-flyer soon. In the meantime, check this out.

Thank You

2006-09-28T07:02:00.000+01:00

Thank you again to those of you who turned up to the reading. It's much appreciated. Alex and I enjoyed it greatly. And thank you to all the poets that read.

Steve & Alex

See you at the next reading in November.

Forward this (amended) flyer!

2006-09-14T09:32:00.000+01:00

4Openned news

2006-09-13T14:40:00.000+01:00

Hello readers, it is I, Alex, returning from New York. Settle down now, I can feel the excitement coming at me like a storm surge.

Lots of news. 4Openned, Episode 1 of the Openned prequel trilogy (those of you who missed the first three nights, this would be an opportune time to join the fold) has been confirmed for Wednesday 27th September. Details are at the top of the blog, and keep checking the sidebar for a list of confirmed readers (a preliminary running order will be posted in the next few days), as well as a link to directions for those of you unfamiliar with the East End.

Digressing somewhat, our little experiment to let the spammers take hold of the Openned forum has been an exponential success, with a self-perpetuating inundation of malformed and misanthropic spam posts setting up home. It's a great source of material for anyone working on procedural or found work - just don't click the links!

In other news, Steve is currently on hard-earned holiday after slogging away at his MA. Check Openned.com for a link to one of his pieces. Well worth a look.

We hope to see you at the night. Expect more posts in the coming weeks leading up to the reading, as the great big Brunel-inspired Openned machine fires up the pistons and starts the cogs turning. It's like watching Wayne Rooney in slow-motion.

It's good to be back.

Activate!

2006-09-08T23:01:00.000+01:00

Hey exicited reader base I thought you may like this:

Cyber Sociology

I did it was great!

Wow so good

Mez: Mary Anne Breeze

2006-08-23T15:32:00.000+01:00

I am sorry for anyone who may be reading who is getting bored of posts about net.art and poetry, but I am getting a lot out of it at the moment. You may recall a previous post where we posted a link to Inflect, the e-journal, well, featured in that journal was the internet poet MEZ or May Anne Breeze, her work is very interesting and I thought it merrited its own post so here it is:

ad[dressed]in skin code

For a critical text on ad[dressed] in skin code, click...
Here

A short code poem in Prolog

2006-08-22T12:46:00.000+01:00

:- dynamic word/1.

% a short code poem.
%download SWI prolog, enter in all the code - execute the poem by entering %binarypoem210.
% then press enter

binarypoem210:-nl,word(POEM),
print(POEM),
nl,nl,print
('please type: deplete.
then press return to enter
into the poem/code/space').

word([a,l,l,y,o,u,l,o,v,e,t,o,l,o,s,e]).

deplete:- word(EMPTINESS),
member(a,EMPTINESS),delete(EMPTINESS,a,POEM),
assert(word(POEM)),
retract(word(EMPTINESS)),nl,print(POEM).

deplete:- word(INFLUX),member(y,INFLUX),
delete(INFLUX,y,STATE),
assert(word(STATE)),
retract(word(INFLUX)),
nl,print(STATE).

deplete:- word(ING),member(e,ING),
delete(ING,e,ALLTHATYOUARE),
assert(word(ALLTHATYOUARE)),
retract(word(ING)),nl,print(ALLTHATYOUARE).

deplete:- word(BUFFERZONE),
member(t,BUFFERZONE),
member(s,BUFFERZONE),
delete(BUFFERZONE,t,CONDOLEEZA),
delete(CONDOLEEZA,s,OILTANKER),
assert(word(OILTANKER)),
retract(word(BUFFERZONE)),
nl,print(OILTANKER).

deplete:- word(HISTORY),
member(u,HISTORY),
member(v,HISTORY),
delete(HISTORY,u,MEMORY),

delete(MEMORY,v,DOCUMENT),
assert(word(DOCUMENT)),
retract(word(HISTORY)),
nl,print(DOCUMENT).

Alan Sondheim: Prepare to lose it in the Long Waves

2006-08-21T23:22:00.000+01:00

Enjoy your trip Al, but for now:

Coagulating Internet Text: Code and Code Work, Surface and Substrate, absolutely engaging, Philosophy and Psychology of the internet.

You need it: Internet_Text/through the gateway

Steve.

Start spreading the news...

2006-08-18T23:42:00.000+01:00

I'm leaving today. I'm off to the Big Apple for two weeks, so I won't be posting on the blog. Hopefully Steve will keep the ship afloat whilst I'm gone. Apologies for the lag in entry posting over the last couple of weeks, the curse of employment has left poetry on the back burner, much like society in general actually only on a microscopic scale. Don't stare too close at me, I can cause offence.

See you soon.

Alex

More from JODI

2006-08-18T11:10:00.000+01:00

Hello:

http://JODI map of net.art

http://jodi, noise signals

http://%wrong browser

Once again enjoy, and let me know what you think.

Steve. Part of the (EDITORS)

JODI

2006-08-05T11:47:00.000+01:00

Look Alex, and anyone else that wishes I was still in a far off asian country, I have been back for a while, I have been keeping a low profile as I have been perfecting my own unique brand of ninja marxist poetics: ninjmarxtics. Its a class war on a silent but deadly scale.

Anyway here is a post, please fellow openned blog enthusiasts check out some of these links. A poetic work started by Dirk Paesmans and Joan Heemskerk. It is probably my favourite work of digital poetics (at the moment).

Start with http://404.jodi.org
Then move on to the subdomains wwwwwwwww
and sod

And if you are feeling particularly brave, try
asdfg
This one should come with a health warning! (that was your warning by the way, no really, expect strobe lighting!)

Then go exploring. If your interested and are looking for a critical text to suppliment your experience I suggest,

Hans Dieter Huber Only!4!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!4-for YOUR Private Eyes. A structural analysis of http://www.jodi.org

Have fun.
Steve (location England)

Spam cloud (spam spam spam spam spam)

2006-08-02T12:28:00.000+01:00

Getting a forum off the ground is one of the hardest things to do when building a website. It just is. So I'd like to take the time out to thank the spammers who have been inundating the Openned forum with a volume of junk hitherto unknown to humankind.

So far I've been deleting them. Then it got me thinking one day, partly out of ennui, partly out of interest - what if I left it? What if Steve and I just left the forum to grow into a giant spam cloud? Think of the poetic possibilities. It would be like a freeloading repository of found material to do wild and weird things with. Openned readers could dip in and out when they wanted a bit of hypertext free of poetic pretensions yet still vibrant and grabbing.

I'll have to talk it over with Steve of course. He's still in China. Drop us an e-mail or a comment though, and let us know what you think. You may just sway us one way or another.

Altered books

2006-08-01T16:29:00.000+01:00

altered books

Cut the bindings off of books found at a used book store. Find poems in the pages by the process of obliteration. Put pages in the mail and send them all around the world. Lather, rinse, repeat.

In their own way, very beautiful, and intriguing.

InFlect

2006-07-25T20:21:00.000+01:00

It's the 50th post on the Openned blog (you can hear the cheering online, for a small fee). It seems apt then that Steve and I keep it a little personal on this here update and give some love to InFlect. It's an online multimedia poetry magazine, and is quite a joy to looksee. It features John Sparrow, who tutored myself and Steve for a few months during our MA. So yes, this is a plug, and yes, it's unashamed because we'd have put it up here anyway and it's well worth your time.

Enjoy, and here's to the 100th post. Thanks for reading!

Links

2006-07-19T12:42:00.000+01:00

We've changed the way we handle the Mouse food list on Openned.com and Openned blog. It's now run from a del.icio.us feed, which means that updating of the list will be much quicker and much faster for those of you who e-mail us a request to be added.

It also now means that the list runs in chronological, not alphabetical, order, which explains why zafusy is at the top, because it was the last to be added to del.icio.us. We hope that this state of change will be welcomed, and those of you whose site begins with the letter A will forgive us.

Quickmuse

2006-07-18T20:57:00.000+01:00

Quickmuse

Improvisatory poetry is, mostly, pants. Quickmuse still has a lot of aforementioned pantage, but it's also quite entertaining. The basis premise is a face-off between two authors who have 15 minutes to write a poem. Quickmuse records the actual process of their writing; the deletions, the constant rewriting, and sometimes the general sense of a panicked reputation running delirious fingers over a keyboard. The end results are often dull and, strangely, predictable. But the process of seeing renowned poets working to a deadline is still worth the price of admission, which is free. Which is good.

You can find more information in this NY Times article.

H _ N G M _ N .

2006-07-13T11:10:00.000+01:00

H_ANGM_N

Click the link because...

'H_NGM_N exists as a home for those with no other home. The poetry here is poetry outside of schools, a truant poetry. Hooky poetry.'...it sounds like our kind of place.

How Yah Doon?

2006-07-11T11:38:00.000+01:00

We'd like to direct you towards How Yah Doon?. It's an eminently readable web magazine run by John Stiles, who recently interviewed myself and Steve for an article soon to be published on his site. Be sure to check out John's poetry on Openned.com too, and check out Creamsickle Stick Shivs for more samples of his work.

Cyborg poetry

2006-07-10T11:33:00.000+01:00

Welcome to the world of spooky keyboards

Yet more coolage from the internet, using the internet for poetry, on the internet, by the internet, for the people, in your living room, right now, via satellite, from the internet, for the people, by the internet. Spooky.

Poems made from spam

2006-07-07T16:00:00.000+01:00

Anthology Of Spam Poetry

Those of you who attended Openned2 may remember my good pal Steve (currently in South Africa chasing bumblebees with small fishing nets) opening proceedings with a reading from some spam he had received. This site takes the concept a step further, actually crafting poems from the stuff, and doing it quite well.

Prime perl haiku

2006-07-07T15:57:00.000+01:00

Prime perl haiku

Interesting primarily for its procedural nature, this page explores (albeit in a simplistic way) the possibilities of utilising coding to generate poetry. It's arguable that it's been done before, and better, but we're never ones to turn our noses up to people who are giving it a go, so here's the link for your perusal if you feel so inclined.

The William Burroughs cut-up machine

2006-07-04T15:12:00.000+01:00

Cut-up machine

Cut-up machine

Another technological marvel that puts pay to the craft and the graft. Simply paste your text in the box and it will cut it up for you, William Burroughs-style. You can also have it delete random parts. A nice diversion and an useful tool if you're planning working with volumes of text.

Openned wiki

2006-07-03T10:12:00.000+01:00

Today, the Openned wiki is born. For those of you who don't know what a wiki is (which included myself until this morning) think of it as a mini website that can be edited by anyone who has the password. You need no knowledge of html - the interface works much like a blog. However, unlike the Openned blog, the wiki is a place of total experimentation, where anything goes, save for 3 rules:

No pornography
No advertising (unless it's poetry-related)
No deletion of the home page

Enter into dialogue with people without actually talking to them, post things you'd dare never post on your own blog/website because you're not proud of them, or you're too proud of them, or you're too thing to think anything.

Make it grow.

Password: poetry

Public Thankyou

2006-07-01T12:06:00.000+01:00

Just a big public blog thank you for all of Alex's hard work getting the format of the Magazine together, and putting up with my tardy suggested alterations, it is because of Alex's enthusiasm and belief in the value of writing and poetry that he continues to slave away working on the platform (magazine and website) that allows the more public readings at the Foundry to flourish. Both sides of the Openned project are integeral to one another, and his support is invaluable to the success of the reading series, and poetry in London in general.

Thats not to say we will not continue to bicker and debate the finer details of poetry and politics for years to come, but long may those interchanges continue.
Off the SA with me. Bye
Steve

Openn3d reading

2006-06-29T08:49:00.000+01:00

Thanks to all of you who turned up last night for Openn3d. It was a great night, with some excellent poets and a receptive audience. We're taking a break from organising readings during the summer to get to work on issue 2 of Openned magazine, which we hope will be rather fat and mind-worthy when we're finished. The next reading is scheduled for September. In the meantime, the blog and the website will be running as usual, and issue 1 of Openned magazine is ready for you to flick through, so keep coming back for more until your belly is gorged on on textual goodness.

Thanks again.

Steve & Alex

Openned magazine issue 1, Jun 06

2006-06-28T00:45:00.000+01:00

The first issue of the Openned magazine is here, available in high resolution and web-friendly low resolution downloads. The best bit? It's completely free.

Openn3d - Wednesday 28th June 2006

2006-06-27T09:36:00.000+01:00

It's the day before again. Tomorrow is Openn3d, the third night, and the last until September as we go on something of a summer holiday (Steve and I are camping in the Himalayas, where we shall hibernate like bears).

So, please come! We have some exciting readers chipping in, including Keston Sutherland, Jeff Hilson, Elizabeth Jane-Burnett and Lydia White, among others.

We hope to see you at the Foundry, tomorrow at 7.30pm. Check the sidebar or Openned.com for more details.

We have freebies...

Mr Bloom's Dental Windows

2006-06-26T15:38:00.000+01:00

Mr Bloom's Dental Windows

It seems incidental to begin posting links again after the legendary Lembit Opik graced Steve's inbox with his presence, but here I am, me, Alex, posting a link to a rather good blog. If you can tear your eyes away from the Lembit posters no doubt adorning your walls as I write this, then take a few minutes to have a read. It will be worth your time.

Lembit replies to my poem! (in a previous post)

2006-06-25T15:35:00.000+01:00

Steve,

Well, it certianly shows the benefit of genuinely liking the human race,
even on the tube! Perhaps the following comment might be helpful, which
you can feel free to add on my behalf to your web site.

"I've read the Poem, which does indeed encourage confusion as you
suggest, but it doesn't cause offence - not to me anyway. It raises the
question of accessability, in language and in art. There are rights of
passage to understanding this kind of expression, and the audience will
self-select their interpretation according to the challenges they see in
the poetry.

It's an interesting experiment, made possible by some people's
willingness to be linguistic engineers."

All the best, and good luck with the poetry.

Lembit

What with the reading and all

2006-06-22T16:36:00.000+01:00

What with the reading coming up and all (are you coming? We hope so) the blog might go a bit quiet for a couple of days. Please be assured, normal service will resume. Thank you for your patience. Lifejackets are located under your seat.

Zafusy

2006-06-22T16:33:00.000+01:00

Zafusy

You may have noticed the Mouse food section has grown longer over the past couple of weeks. Lost in the melee of poertric intrestringness is Zafusy, a lovely website with a lovely clean layout and lovely clean content. No wastage to be found here.

Poetry jukebox

2006-06-21T13:50:00.000+01:00

Poetry jukebox

Does exactly what it says on the link. Go here for more info.

Viva la blog!

2006-06-20T15:01:00.000+01:00

It's come to my attention when searching for new, interesting work that the blogosphere is rife with computer literate poets who have finally found an outlet. Blogs seem to have caused an explosion in output, what with the ease of establishing a site in which to situate your work. It's exciting, and vital, and with hugely involved blogs like Taking the Brim_Took the Broom (more on this blog in a future post) established large cosmopolitan communities, the net has reached a point where the difficulties of establishing a presence on it can be overcome by a pre-established framework of readers and writers. At last, the net is a place where writers can be worrying about their writing, rather than about how to get their writing out there.

Torn labels

2006-06-20T14:50:00.000+01:00

torn labels

Here's a site that utilises colour. It's something you don't see too often, and it's a shame. There's no reason to not use colour in text. Things are black on white because they're easy to read and they're cheap to replicate. When those things become secondary concerns, in a practice where we don't necessarily want things to be easy to read or easily consumed, and where we can reproduce colour and vibrancy on screen for no extra cost, why is it still not widely used? Perhaps there's a degree of sobriety and 'seriousness' surrounding the traditional black-on-white look. But even when colour has no intrinsic meaning to what a piece is trying to say, why not have it in blue, or red, or green? After all, why is it that the majority of readers do not consider the fact that a poem is written in black an important aspect of its meaning as a whole?

Keystone

2006-06-19T13:52:00.000+01:00

++ keystone ++

The weekend is over, so to cheer you up, here's a link to a poetry magazine aimed at young writers:

Keystone is a new poetry magazine now in its sixth issue. Staunchly eclectic, we aim to publish work by young and unknown writers alongside that of better known names. We have no political or social agenda and do not subscribe to any one school of writing.

We accept poetry, prose, reviews, essays and translations. Submissions are welcome from abroad. Please send all enquiries and submissions to the editor, Tom Chivers, 53 Arcadia Court, 45 Old Castle Street, London E1 7NY or by email.

Seems like a good way to get your foot in the door. Good luck to those of you who submit.

Bowery Poetry

2006-06-16T21:30:00.000+01:00

Hey, if you have some time this summer I sincerly recommend checking out the:

Bowery Poetry Club Summer Session
A Certificate Program in Applied Poetics

August 13-27, 2006

Amiri Baraka, John Giorno, Erica Hunt, David Henderson, Sheri-D Wilson, Lisa Jarnot, Kristin Prevallet, Shelley Jackson, Anne Waldman, Brian Kim Stefans...

For submissions information contact Elizabeth-Jane Burnett
ejlburnett@yahoo.co.uk

And check out Bowery arts and science

Incidently I visited the Bowery Poetry Cafe when I spent a few days last year in New York and the people involved were not only very friendly by allowing me to participate in an open mic event, but they do provide a great and important space for experimental writing. The place is quite special.

Feed me

2006-06-15T11:32:00.000+01:00

We have added an RSS feed to the blog (see the sidebar), a very handy thing for those of you who know what RSS is. For those of you who don't, click the What is RSS? link and find out. It will change the way you use the internet, save you a lot of time, and perhaps bring about world peace. Maybe.

Crag Hill's poetry scorecard

2006-06-15T10:59:00.000+01:00

Crag Hill's poetry scorecard

I spent almost five minutes reading that as 'Craig Hill's poetry scorecard'. Another repository of links to things that people are figuring out how to do whilst doing them, but haven't quite done them yet.

Links

2006-06-14T17:55:00.000+01:00

There are now enough links on this blog to make a very tasty link burger. If you would like to eat a link burger, please click a link.

Openn3d: Mr. K Sutherland

2006-06-14T12:42:00.000+01:00

No, it's not Jack Bauer who's turning up at the next Openned night, but Keston Sutherland.

For those of you unfamiliar with Keston's work, we direct you towards this five-star review of his work, Neocosis, from Amazon - it says it better than we could:

If I were to eat a book, I would have eat this book. It is a book which is for some time hard to stop and look around at, but to be precipitated to us thus in our modern life! It ROCKS of course and it is about war and making love to Lassie and right wing neoclassicism and some of that stuff.

We're very excited to have him reading, and we hope you will come to what is shaping up to be the best Openned night so far. Keep checking the blog for further news.

Openned eyes

2006-06-14T10:34:00.000+01:00

We're rather proud of Openned.com. It does most of the things we want it to. Unfortunately, displaying visual work by poets is not one of them. For some reason, the bit around the back of Openned (it looks like the warehouse at the end of Raiders Of The Lost Ark) doesn't accept images for the archive. It simply won't. Now, with money, time, intelligence and resources, we could fix this. Sadly, we used all of those up establishing Openned in the first place. So we've created a new off-shoot, an extra branch on the Openned tree. It's called Openned eyes, and it is, if you like, a repository to which both Openned and its blog will reach when we find some visual poetry in our inbox. We're not going to link to this, or shout about it too much; just think of it as a white space to splash the colour on. To kick off, there are two excellent pieces by Sophie Robinson. Enjoy.

As/Is

2006-06-12T14:06:00.000+01:00

As/Is

Resource: available source of wealth; a new or reserve supply that can be drawn upon when needed.

I've seen sites with more links, but not many.

Openn3d: readers confirmed

2006-06-11T13:11:00.000+01:00

To, purveyers, passengers, and poets, sar far we have managed to confirm three readers for the fothcoming Openn3d event, Lydia White, Elizabeth Jane-Burnett, and Jeff Hilson, its shaping up to be an exciting night. So keep an eye on the blog during the coming week, for more exciting names and faces.

All the best

Thought #135 - Heisenberg's uncertainty pencipal

2006-06-09T13:48:00.000+01:00

The Heisenberg uncertainty pencipal comments on the impossibility of documenting a pen's movements using the pen itself.

(The mines of) Moria (poetry)

2006-06-09T11:40:00.000+01:00

Moria poetry

Mine this site, it's chock-olate full of gloriousness stuffage. Then run! Run, you fools! I particularly like Louis Armand, you can dig him out of the current issue.

Douwe Osinga's visual poetry

2006-06-08T11:20:00.001+01:00

Douwe Osinga's visual poetry

Addictive. Place a string, a sentence if you will, into a text box and watch as your words are replaced with image search results from 'non-evil' omniscient net overlord, Google (did you mean 'googol'?). Visual poetry in its most basic sense, yet somehow compelling. Also check the projects page, a list of no-purpose data experiments that offer engagement possibilities, poetic dialectic. Say it with a plum in your mouth. I think some interesting things could come out of investigation these methods of raw data extrapolation and interpretation.

The site belongs to a man who works for Google, an insider. I'm sure they're flagging his library books as we speak.

Openbracket (for future reference)

2006-06-07T17:13:00.000+01:00

open bracket.

Dare I say promising? Dare I? I dare.

Oh, and if a thousand million is a billion, and a thousand billion is a trillion, then a billion billion can't be a trillion, nor a million million be a billion, though people attest, and will attest, to a million billion being a thousand trillion.

Poems I'd like to see on the underground #1

2006-06-06T15:20:00.000+01:00

Poetry on the tube, bringing lines of words to the masses. Here is my first choice for replacing the whole damn lot of it. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Ian Dury.

Bus Driver's Prayer
Our Father,
Who art in Hendon
Harrow Road be Thy name
Thy Kingston come
Thy Wimbledon
In Erith as it is in Hendon.
Give us this day our Berkhampstead
And forgive us our Westminsters
As we forgive those who Westminster against us.
Lead us not into Temple Station
And deliver us from Ealing,
For thine is the Kingston
The Purley and the Crawley,
For Iver and Iver
Crouch End

Clock work: sixty shaking hands...

2006-06-05T14:54:00.000+01:00

This is a copy of an e-mail I just sent to Lembit Opik which serves as some kind of introduction to my poem: clockwork: sixty shaking hands with a politician and other meteoric concerns.

Dear Lembit Opik M.P

Hi, my name is Stephen Willey, I met you on the tube a couple of weeks ago, I was coming off the District Line as you were going on; it was at Embankment tube. I recognized you and shook your hand, you were very polite and personable. What you did not know was that I am an aspiring poet engaged in a growing experimental writing scene in London. I co-run a web site called www.openned.com as well as a blog www.openned.blogspot.com. I think you will find the 'about us' page on the main openned website interesting as it talks a lot about politics in a humerous but pertinant way; I would love it if you left a comment on the forum or on the blog, it would mean a lot to me. Anyway, after our meeting I wrote a poem which I have e-mailed you in an attachment. I hope you find it interesting and engaging.

At source it compares a conventional narrativistic or teleological way of measuring time and history (the clock) against the repetitive greating of the hand shake. The poem is divided into 4, 15 line sections (evocative of the clock) which are refigured and reflected against eachother as the poem progresses. In case there is any confusion (and the poem does encourage and excite confusion) this is not a personal attack against you in any way, but is instead an investigation about the nature of politics, as it stands at the moment, and the repetitive acts our culture and our bodies commit us to everyday without our entire control. Any way enough said perhaps. Apart from I was a student at Brentwood School, about 5 years ago now, where you gave a talk. Small world hey Lembit.

I hope you enjoy it and perhaps I will see you at the next openned event. The 28th of June, at the Foundry Old Street, 7:30.

Yours sincerly

Steve Willey

Terrible Work

2006-06-05T10:12:00.000+01:00

Terrible Work

This site's currently undergoing a bit of an overhaul, but there is still a lot of interestment to be impinged upon. Two things I love: it's edited by Tim Allen, a man I always acknowledged as a good comedian, and now respect even more as someone interested in poetry. Secondly, it employs the worst colour palette yet seen on the web, a feat that in and of itself does not seem impressive, until you note the addition of some kind of headless chicken image to the homepage. Viva la difference!

Yogh

2006-06-02T00:10:00.000+01:00

Yogh

For those of you at the night, this is Jow Lindsay at work. For those of you not at the night, allow us to introduce Jow Lindsay. Investigate the 'remixes' too, as intense as toilet duck cocktails.

Thank you

2006-06-01T11:48:00.000+01:00

A big thank you to all of you who showed up last night. We had some excellent poets reading, the atmosphere was great and it felt like everyone was enjoying themselves. So, again, thank you, and we hope to see you at the next event, Wednesday 28th June, same time, same place (7.30 at the Foundry in case you had a few drinks!). Keep checking the blog and the website for further details, and keep sending in your poetry.

Steve & Alex

Flarf

2006-05-31T11:23:00.000+01:00

I don't know Flarf

I know Flarf

I'm not sure about Flarf. It seems to be doing a heck of a lot of not very much. Maybe classification stunts relevance.

Double trouble: not to be missed

2006-05-31T00:09:00.000+01:00

Steve McCaffery & Karen Mac Cormack reading
Royal Holloway – Department of English / CPRC Birkbeck present:
A reading by

Steve McCaffery & Karen Mac Cormack

Thursday, June 1st 2006
19:45 Birkbeck College, room 101, 30 Russell Square, London
Nearest Tubes: Russell Square, Euston, Euston Square, Warren Street
Further details from Carol Watts on c.watts@bbk.ac.uk. All welcome

Crossing the Line, poetry in London this Friday

Crossing the Line presents a poetry reading by Christopher Twigg on Friday the 2nd of June, from 7.30pm.
This will be held in the upstairs room at The Plough, 27 Museum St., London WC1. Nearest tubes: Russell Sq, Tottenham Court Rd, Holborn.
Admissions: £5/£3 (concessions).

Elizabeth-Jane Burnett: For the next 12 days I will be placing a rose somewhere in the city...

2006-05-30T14:25:00.000+01:00

I recieved this digital piece from Elizabeth and found it really interesting, I do wonder, and only out of curiosity, what other objects could be placed instead of a rose and how that would change the work, at any rate click here to view her exciting piece. Plus you can see an accompanying text on Openned. Perhaps you'll be seeing more of Elizabeth's work at the Openned reading after next on the 28th of June. Maybe...

Living the dream

2006-05-30T13:50:00.000+01:00

Freud Lives! by Slavoj Zizek

An interesting article for those unsure about the whole psychoanalysis shebang, i.e. me (would Freud interpret shebang?). It's a flawed argument, but one that raises some interesting questions. Are we, by seeking out these different ways of writing, 'living the dream'? Could that last sentence be any more corny?

Openned2

2006-05-30T10:40:00.000+01:00

Openned2 is almost upon us. The first night was a big success, with many people showing their appreciative faces down at the Foundry. Tomorrow night, then, a free drink for the first person to introduce themselves to myself or Steve as Dr. Benway. If you've never met us - we're the hosts.

To those who come tomorrow, we salute you. You are good people.

Sophie Robinson: Lonely Hearts

2006-05-28T20:51:00.000+01:00

This is a great visual poem sent into Openned a while back by Sophie Robinson (thats right folks the same Sophie Robinson that read at the first Openned reading) which we now have the pleasure of posting up for you for your pleasent persitant perusal. Enjoy. Let us know what you think.

RAPIER PAINTS

2006-05-28T12:55:00.000+01:00

Painting ability belied by belittled inability to express internally infernal angels - warrants be kept enclosed, turned upon themselves, their wings impressed, embossed feathers undressed - lest they become luciferians. To sensical is to corrupt, disrupt, blacken on impact their vacuum-packed faculties: to spread, winged, plummet like ingots of glottal gold, beneath bracken and twigs, branch and enfold of bark, crust and mantle to middle the core ball of molten cold magma, called to the centre, ashen and tarred.

Here devils hear the trembling orbs, plummeting - disintegrate through smoke-dumbing pyro-caustic flows: bulging flowing and plastic corneas distracted entreat liquid fizz bullets through translucent bird limbs. Fall devils fooling, foolish unmoving inanimate disproving scythes cut blunt lost shin flints - the soothing globe musings tender young teething to push the tooth through. Threw strong deft toned brawn, charcoal toned semen-born, sonned by devil, sun-born, by Rapier's name came. Impervious, disaffected, emboldened youth tailed men monsters to cave dwellings: night moon-high, stood lonesome gatekeeper, mountain-edged river dried on blistered vista, keen eyes encroach injured - those in debt, swollen pus limbs, reaper the Rapier spied to laten their demise.

Flint, vixen damson, wilted tulips aimlessly stabs, quilted pitch dimness - Rapier's saviour, forth round spins bicep, tricep: tendon flesh topped now, tupped now, screams inflect respectful mob midst delectation - spectacle rape. Sated, Rapier, full-sinned, belated, awaits painting.

For all you northerners out there...

2006-05-26T23:39:00.000+01:00

'Transmission is one of the most exciting and innovative literature magazines being printed in Manchester. Established as a not-for-profit venture, the creators of Transmission are dedicated to providing a high quality medium for aspiring writers and artists to display their talents. The publication combines original and varied writing with quality illustration and snappy design.'

Submit your work to them through their website, which you can conveniently find here.

Saatchi - your gallery

2006-05-26T12:24:00.000+01:00

Saatchi - your gallery

More admiration for the concept rather than the content and final goal. Worth keeping an eye on though.

Sesame

2006-05-26T11:46:00.000+01:00

Defn: Open - affording unobstructed entrance and exit; not shut or closed.
Defn: Penned - to confine in or as if in a pen.

For those inclined beyond decent fervour to encroach upon out altruistic, nay, free imposition upon this blogosphere, a dedicatory globe of openned language, deposited grammatical language entangles us in a fusitive web of which threads may point crooked fingers towards Openned.com for cogitation of purpose, pretence and false prophet promise, if, perhaps, you take not to the words but collapse on them, fall on them. Depress your keyboard in such a course as to avoid repression of impressed discourse, impressed upon us such that we may show it to you, dear reader, here, in this blog, before the withered hand dithers it towards Openned.com.

Welcome.