by Mamie Tonnies – 1st place 2023

I love the immersive nature of a twine poem. I picked a subject I am passionate about, and I loved that the format itself forced the audience to participate in and become a part of the poem.

To view twine poem, please download .html file and open in Twine 2, which can be downloaded or used in browser here.

Artist’s Statement

I love the immersive nature of a twine poem. I picked a subject I am passionate about, and I loved that the format itself forced the audience to participate in and become a part of the poem.

In Hamlet on the Holdeck, Janet H. Murray talks about structured participation. She looked at this idea through the lens of a “visit” but the main questions she asked were, “how do we know what to do when we enter the screen?” and “how do we avoid ripping apart the fabric of the illusion?” And she made the point that “participation in an immersive environment has to be carefully structured.” I kept these questions and ideas squarely in my mind as I structured my poem. I added the image at the beginning, so the audience immediately knew the tone and
characters of the narrative, I added the “Start” so they knew to click things highlighted in blue, and I kept a pattern of clicked words disappearing throughout to keep a steady and purposeful rhythm. Both choices made it so the audience had consistency in their experience and knew the rules of their participation.

I knew I was limited by the platform, but I also quickly realized it was those limitations that were giving me ideas. If all I had were words, in what ways could I use them? What words were most important? How could I convey all my thoughts and ideas in such a plain and simple format? I spent hours troubleshooting and solving technical problems in order to achieve my vision. More often than not however, it was while trying to do something else, I learned how to do something better. The platform weaved itself into my creative project. I experienced, in real
time, the relationship between creator and technology.

When I picked “Body” by Mother Mother as a poem to explore I had a very clear vision and meaning assigned to it. To me this song is about someone whose body is deteriorating, in particular my dad. For as long as I can remember my dad’s body was breaking. He would often express to me his frustrations and experiences of growing older and “having my body betray me”. This can be a very sad and disheartening topic but my dad rarely expressed these feelings in a way that made me feel bad, it always somehow came through as loving. He loved his body for what it had been, but that was no longer what it was, and that was okay. My dad loved that my body worked, that my siblings’ bodies worked. He saw his own legacy in us. It was a hopeful and hard thing. These are all the thoughts and feelings I tried to put into this twine poem. Whether or not I was successful is up to the audience but I feel proud of what I was able to accomplish.

Head Editor
Gigi Valentine Knapp

Project Manager
Spencer Norton

Section Editor
Anna Lo Russo

Faculty Review
Benjamin Thevenin