1 Sep - 30 Nov 2023

James Notin

For the 2023 Lagos Berlin residency, I will be working on a hyperfiction project which will create a collaborative space for the writer and reader, to co-create a dynamic literary text. This project is focused on returning the Gutenberg-created reader to an active reader. Viewing literature as a commodity, the goal of this project is to empower the possibilities of the reader in the consumption process of literature.
In Marxist argument favouring Art as a Commodity, the transactional and seemingly passive consumerism role of the reader and public has become a divisive one since the advent of the Gutenberg press and the gradual/total shift from oral literature and folklore. Seemingly is the case of algorithms and their usage in target marketing. These two cited situations of human and technology relations and the possible ways of creating an active reader are the focus of my residency period.
The focus will be on developing a nonlinear literature model, employing a chatbot model and AI possibilities to curate a data asset which allows the reader to actively create their own story, through a database similar to what exists in image generators and chatbots.