HASTAC 2023 Conference

Feel the ghosts hanging around in the shape of love is an immersive webXR poetry experience accessible to HASTAC attendees via their smartphones, from any location. The full navigable area will be about 500 sq feet, but can be overlayed on any space. The poem will be recorded as audio, with interactive elements.

The central text I’ll be working from was composed during a residency in computational creativity at the Banff Centre this past spring. The text is computationally generated based on an archive of poems written by the author over a decade with additional ai-generated stanzas. Visuals will be created using AI-image generation tools and the AR components will be built in either 8th wall or Aero or similar for easy dissemination in a conference setting.

The work involves co-creation with machines, combinatory poetics, and a navigable environment that will emerge iteratively as I write, import imagery, code and rework. New poetry will be added to the narrative spine already created. Images will be co-created with commercial AI image generation tools. This queer feminist work reflects a broad commitment to creative practices and research-creation that challenges oppressive power structures and involves a critical exploration of extended reality (AR/VR/MR). The resulting work is surprising, erotic, makes new space for poetry in empty hallways, registration lines and hotel rooms, queering spaces by creating meaning at the intersection of real world conference locations and literary augmentation, remixing a lesbian poetry archive, overlaying spoken word and a visual world, co-created between poet and machine. The experience will be designed to last about 5 minutes. Best with headphones.

The girl’s body soft as oatmeal
And smelling like opium
at lunch I go to her with the eyes of a car.
diamonds move within us
Ancient. new Look: we made this.
This potent Deep dive into two people
fold enough of them together for a long staircase
Narrow and dirty might as well be fucking Ithaca.
standstillstandstillstandstill hands together, fragile,
Each other’s most beautiful and impossible pressure
Look: we made this.
Reach out, feel the ghosts hanging around in
The shape of love
A clear golden shot from my soul to your bed,
screaming your name.