Even 256 characters of stand-alone code can endlessly generate an erratic text reflecting on the Python programming language itself. The Mark of Help program itself is free software, and the same for all broadsides. Everyone is invited to study it to determine how it works — and to do anything else with it.
Fifty unique broadsides were generated on July 12, 2022 by running the Mark of Help program fifty different times. Each one was the result of five minutes of program execution. Because each of the fifty runs of the program were done for a fixed period of time, rather than until a fixed number of lines were generated, the length of each broadside varies.
The fifty items constitute a set but this set is not an “edition,” because there are no copies — each broadside is unique. The time of generation is indicated on each broadside; because there is no edition the items are not numbered. Each broadside is signed by the author.
Each of the three broadsides presented at POÈME SBJKT is accompanied by a digital recording of the author reading the text. The recordings are exclusive to the exhibit.
Each is accompanied by a USB flash drive.
An online and physical survey/group show of text-based physical artworks by TheVERSEverse in partnership with L'Avant Galerie and Librairie Métamorphoses.
This is Part 2 of an exhibition. Part 1 "Poème Objkt", a conversation between poetry and the visual arts brought to life through the liminal play of the physical and the digital, opened in October 2022 at L’Avant Galerie Vossen.
2023 Crypto Art Award Shortlist, The Lumen Prize.
