Diamonds in Dystopia

Abstract

Diamonds in Dystopia is a body of work and web framework for creatively datamining large sources of text for mobile interaction. So far we have used it for live-streaming poetry performances at various locations such as SXSW Interactive and TEDx in addition to fine arts installations. As a perfor- mance it is a web driven app for incorporating improvisation into experiential storytelling. The audience acts as collaborator by sending word selections by tapping language on their mobiles to trigger reactions to send a distilled, improvisational stanza culled from a massive corpus of text to the poet on stage. The individual taps coming from the audience also trigger synthesized audio effects at varying pitches to create a musical experience as well as contributing to a vi- sual projection of the poem and audience interactivity. Cre- ated by Vincent A. Cellucci (poet), Jesse Allison (Professor of Experimental Music), and Derick Ostrenko (Professor of Digital Art), the applications use natural language processing on text to generate an innovative media stage project. The app creators are interested in creative data mining and incorporating interactive media into performances that challenge people’s perceptions and expectations for the mediums of music, digital art and design, and poetry.