„An anthology of digital generators of literature? Isn’t it useless to collect texts by generators? Especially as their special qualities are the infinite production and ever changing results.“, asked Norbert Bachleitner, my esteemed professor.
Florigenium shows a way to collect generators without restricting these qualities. The only restriction I made was the exclusion of offline software because of the troubles presenting them online.
The title implies the special property of this collection. Every lecture is unique because every time you open or restart the homepage the programs generate new poems and new stories. These flowers (flores) of literature are not only collected and can be read over and over again (legere) as in traditional florilegia but the are generated (genere) exclusively for every reader. That is the reason why I called it FLORIGENIUM.
An anthology traditionally connotes establishment of a canon, high quality and genius. Although the title allude genius it is more an ironique allusion. The texts of are not originated in a romantic spirit but computer generated. The early discussion on these computer poetries reflect the divergence between poetry as an expression of the soul and the creative mind and as a set of rules executed by a machine. Whereas I do not want to deepen this discussion any further the purpose of this collection wants to show the rich creativity of this genre. The genius lies more in the esthetic concepts and technical knowledge.
Read more in the preface.
www.unet.univie.ac.at/~a0649517/
