Hypertext and Art at Digital Humanities Summer Institute 2024
by: John Durno, Head, Library Systems
This summer, the UVic Libraries Historic Computing Lab was honored to host, sponsor and contribute to “Hypertext & Art: A Retrospective of Forms,” an exhibition of historic hypertext artworks held in conjunction with the Digital Humanities Summer Institute (DHSI), held from June 10-14. Curated by Dr. Dene Grigar (Washington State University), it was the North American premiere of an exhibition originally presented in 2023 at the Bibliotheca Hertziana—Max Planck Institute for Art History, in Rome, Italy.
The exhibition featured notable artworks from more than 30 artists covering a 40-year period between 1983 and 2023. Earliest works in the exhibition included a group of four interactive videotex works by Canadian artist Nell Tenhaaf; followed chronologically by pre-web hypertext works by artists working with authoring tools such as HyperCard and StorySpace, including Sarah Smith, Stuart Moulthrop, Michael Joyce and others; and web-based works by a range of artists including Judy Malloy, M.D. Coverley, and John Barber/Greg Philbrook.
Thematically, the exhibition was divided into four sections: Authoring systems and the art they wrought, highlighting how artists leveraged the affordances of different authoring systems to create distinctive works; Early web and the affordances of the browser, highlighting the impact of the web on the development of hypertext art; Beyond the click, featuring works using experimental methods for navigating hypertext; and Conserving hypertext art; focusing on the challenges of conserving hypertext artworks through generations of technological obsolescence. Dr. Grigar and her docents were present during the exhibition to provide interpretative context for those interested in learning more about the works.
Artworks were presented on both period and contemporary computing hardware. Four early 90s Macintosh computers were supplied by our Historic Computing Lab, giving exhibition attendees the opportunity to experience some of the older artworks as originally envisioned by their creators. The Lab also provided a modern re-creation of a Telidon terminal to display the works of Nell Tenhaaf. Other exhibits ran on a selection of iMacs and iPads provided by Dr. Grigar’s Electronic Literature Lab, period-accurate for the more recent works on display.
The exhibition also featured a display of historic material artifacts including a selection of physical media, documentation, and memorabilia relating to the works on display, sourced primarily from Dr. Grigar’s personal collection.
The exhibition was well-received by visitors from DHSI and the broader community, with the opening on Monday drawing over 100 guests. It garnered no less than two favourable reviews in Asymptote:
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