Transliteracy Conference, Leicester
9th February 2010 @Phoenix Square
Professor Sue Thomas described Transliteracy as being the ability to read, write and interact across a range of platforms. The conference presented a wide range of media used to engage with modern audiences and the use of social networking tools was encouraged and the speakers were filmed to document the day for a digital audience.
Gareth Howell of De Montfort University presented the use of web comics as a means of producing small press style comics cheaply and using the web to have access to a wider audience and stretch the medium. When asked about audience and the possibility of having to wait for a 'transliterate audience', he replied that you can't wait for the audience or aim too low to make them happy; you need to challenge them to adapt and evolve their grammar as the medium evolves. His target audience is web savvy and he produces fragmented narratives that complement his medium of choice using the internet as a tool and weaving web comics with character blogs to allow stories to be broken up and read according to the audiences personal preferences.
The comics medium relies on audience interaction; the reader imagines what takes place between the gutters as the artwork changes from panel to panel and Howell uses the web to encourage readers to engage with a story from site to site or device to device (e.g. a story read on a hand held mobile device.) Using different mediums such as comic book layouts and social network links to expand the stories changes the way that it is read and allows for the author to experiment with different perspectives and designs and get audience feedback. The medium is further expanded as the work can then jump from author to author as the readers comment on and develop the fictional worlds.
Above: fan fiction based on The Watchmen commenting on the decline of the newspaper comic. Ombudsmen by Scott R. Kurtz.
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Dr. Steve Gibson presented Grand Theft Bicycle; interactive video game art produced as political satire. The user interacts with a 'Borgcycle', a customized bicycle with controls built into the handlebars that is hooked up to the game. The interactive game becomes a social experience as onlookers enjoy watching the action unfold as much as taking part.
http://grandtheftbicycle.com/
“The medium is the message.” - Marshal McLuhan
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