Nick Montfort is a Professor of Digital Media at MIT whose work delves into the compelling realm of interactive fiction. He explores how we engage with narrative and pushes the boundaries of creative expression through programming for the arts and humanities. Montfort's research bridges the gap between technology and artistic endeavors, offering unique insights into new media.
Using Senses, Software, and Archives in the Twenty-First Century
Exploring innovative publishing methods, this book delves into historical, artistic, and technical precedents to redefine the publishing landscape. It emphasizes experimental approaches that challenge traditional norms, aiming to inspire new evolutions in the field.
The future is like an unwritten book. It is not something we see in a crystal ball, or can only hope to predict, like the weather. In this volume of the MIT Press's Essential Knowledge series, Nick Montfort argues that the future is something to be made, not predicted. Montfort offers what he considers essential knowledge about the future, as seen in the work of writers, artists, inventors, and designers (mainly in Western culture) who developed and described the core components of the futures they envisioned. Montfort's approach is not that of futurology or scenario planning; instead, he reports on the work of making the future - the thinkers who devoted themselves to writing pages in the unwritten book. Douglas Engelbart, Alan Kay, and Ted Nelson didn't predict the future of computing, for instance. They were three of the people who made it.
A single line of code offers a way to understand the cultural context of computing. This book takes a single line of code—the extremely concise BASIC program for the Commodore 64 inscribed in the title—and uses it as a lens through which to consider the phenomenon of creative computing and the way computer programs exist in culture. The authors of this collaboratively written book treat code not as merely functional but as a text—in the case of 10 PRINT, a text that appeared in many different printed sources—that yields a story about its making, its purpose, its assumptions, and more. They consider randomness and regularity in computing and art, the maze in culture, the popular BASIC programming language, and the highly influential Commodore 64 computer.
Engaging readers through interactive poetry, the book features a unique structure divided into three sections. The "Riddle" section presents enigmatic poems for readers to decipher. The "&" section creatively blends riddles with structured forms, challenging readers to uncover their construction. Finally, "Bind" showcases a variety of constrained poetry, utilizing both traditional and innovative styles. This collection invites readers not only to appreciate poetry but also to actively participate in solving and understanding the art form.
A study of the relationship between platform and creative expression in the Atari VCS.
Montfort explores the rise of independent creators and the growth of an online interactive fiction community in the 1990s, highlighting the impact of interactive fiction on various literary and gaming forms.