05/02/2007

"E-poets are not only using computers to pull new words from an existing text and juxtaposewords in new ways but also to break words apart to examine their inner fundamental meaningsand create new associations. Netwurker Mez, for instance, has created a unique network language system _mezangelle_, which brings together her talents as a writer and artist. As Mez explains in an interview on Rhizome, she uses a wide range of textual techniques such as punctuation, homophones, interjection, and variant spellings to infuse her language with potential meanings. Her play with language, symbols, and text evolved from e-mail's often cryptic abbreviations, and she uses mathematical terms both cryptically and subversively:"in2," for example, is the homophone for "into," but it also conveys the idea of splittingsomething into two parts. Her language thus incorporates mathematics, programming, andother code languages to create a language specifically for this new media.

Mez also uses interjected phrases set off in brackets to convey double and triple associations.When interjecting language, "Postmaster" becomes "Post[wo]ma[n]ster"--bringing in immediate associations with gender issues and bringing out the historical associations of master, as well as hinting at other homophones such as monster. Post[wo]ma[n]ster thus takes on many more roles than a simple email address as we examine the deeper implications of mastering, monstering, and gendering the post.

Mez's work, data][h!][bleeding texts, from the The Iowa Review Web, is a gentle introduction into this new playground. In her words, "These t.ex][e][ts r remnants from email performances d-voted to the dispersal of writing that has been n.spired and mutated according 2 the dynamics of an active network." The text itself then moves around on the page, with animated mutations. Mez also uses more than just the text on the computer screen. She uses animated text and images to break down the contexts of her pages. The motion andcomposition of the images, as well as the text, convey her meaning."

-Deena Larsen in _A Quick Buzz around the Universe of Electronic Poetry_ in "Currents in Electronic Literacy Fall 2001 (5)".