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Amaranth Borsuk & Brad Bouse: Between Page and Screen
A convergence of old and new technologies, an unlikely marriage of print and digital, "Between Page and Screen" chronicles a love affair between the characters P and S while taking the reader into a wondrous, augmented reality. The book has no words, only inscrutable black and white geometric patterns that, when coupled with a computer webcam, conjure the text. Reflected on screen, the reader sees himself with open book in hand, language springing alive and shape-shifting with each turn of the page. The story unfolds through a playful and cryptic exchange of letters between P and S as they struggle to define their passionate but fraught relationship. Rich with innuendo, anagrams, etymological and sonic affinities between words, "Between Page and Screen "takes an almost ecstatic pleasure in language and the act of reading. Merging concrete poetry with conceptual art and the tradition of the artist's book with the digital future, "Between Page and Screen" expands the possibilities of what a book can be.
- GenresPoetry
44 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
3 people are currently reading
55 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
January 16, 2017
I suspect "Page and Screen" are a metaphor for "writer and reader" or "you and me." At first I was annoyed by having to go to a website, activate my camera and figure out exactly how to hold the book in front of the camera and still be able to read the screen, but it's actually pretty user friendly and worth the minor investment. I'm just a Luddite who has grown hateful of the relentless technological intrusions that seems to make everything more difficult and less meaningful. This book is an exception.
September 15, 2021
"A screen is a shield, but also a veil-it's sheer and can be shorn."
The only reason I gave this book 2 stars is because of the brilliance behind a book with no words and the ability to only read it through a computer Webcam. It's such an original idea and works with no flaws.
However, I did not like the book itself. It could be because I am too small minded, but I just did not understand it. To me, it was just a jumble of nonsensical words. I understand the main concept, but I did not understand the dialogue within it.
The only reason I gave this book 2 stars is because of the brilliance behind a book with no words and the ability to only read it through a computer Webcam. It's such an original idea and works with no flaws.
However, I did not like the book itself. It could be because I am too small minded, but I just did not understand it. To me, it was just a jumble of nonsensical words. I understand the main concept, but I did not understand the dialogue within it.
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May 9, 2025As others have pointed out, this book (at least the first edition) cannot be read. It relies on Adobe Flash, which has been unsupported since the end of 2020. Definitely interesting to think about formally, esp with experimental work that relies on technology.
July 18, 2012
The concept is brilliant, the experience quite maddening as you hold a book up to the webcam in your computer and use adobe flash player, and watch letters leap out of black and white shapes on your computer screen, and
P and S have a conversation. It's the sort of language play I understand, where letters and sounds morph into new letters and sounds -- but a mirror for me to see how the person writing this might be having fun -- but what about the poor reader? If indeed one is looking for meaning, this book will demonstrate that there is none -- as Wittgenstein might say, "This is a very pleasant pineapple" uses recognizable words -- but the meaning will come from the actions a speaker takes, which confirm what understanding this transfers to him.
I will say this about positive benefit: This book makes you want to create your own story between two things! Although page and screen provided a physical challenge of jockeying them into position, (addressing power and control of reader!) it was frustrating to have the words turn into a waterfall of letters and have to start all over. (addressing power and control of reader!) I get the metaphor. That second law of thermodynamics in operation, and another chance to witness being at the limit of chaos.
P and S have a conversation. It's the sort of language play I understand, where letters and sounds morph into new letters and sounds -- but a mirror for me to see how the person writing this might be having fun -- but what about the poor reader? If indeed one is looking for meaning, this book will demonstrate that there is none -- as Wittgenstein might say, "This is a very pleasant pineapple" uses recognizable words -- but the meaning will come from the actions a speaker takes, which confirm what understanding this transfers to him.
I will say this about positive benefit: This book makes you want to create your own story between two things! Although page and screen provided a physical challenge of jockeying them into position, (addressing power and control of reader!) it was frustrating to have the words turn into a waterfall of letters and have to start all over. (addressing power and control of reader!) I get the metaphor. That second law of thermodynamics in operation, and another chance to witness being at the limit of chaos.
May 9, 2012
For www.heysmallpress.org:
Someone once said that since the 1990s, content as a realm of possible experimentation in literature has been exhausted, leaving form the final sandbox for writers to play and build in. If this is the case, Between Page and Screen is a significant movement in this trajectory: a kind of “digital pop-up book,” the book itself contains no text, only a series of black and white rune-like geometric patterns that, when displayed in a computer’s webcam to the online program at www.betweenpageandscreen.com, have poetry extracted from them. You watch yourself holding the book in the flash window on the webpage: the words — sometimes moving, sometimes still; a collection of cryptic love letters, shifting phrases, and combinations of letters rotating and looping back upon themselves — appear to float above each sigil, exploding in a cloud of text with the turn of each page. Borsuk and Bouse have created a wonderful new infrastructure for digital literature which, hopefully, future writers will continue to exploit and further build upon.
Someone once said that since the 1990s, content as a realm of possible experimentation in literature has been exhausted, leaving form the final sandbox for writers to play and build in. If this is the case, Between Page and Screen is a significant movement in this trajectory: a kind of “digital pop-up book,” the book itself contains no text, only a series of black and white rune-like geometric patterns that, when displayed in a computer’s webcam to the online program at www.betweenpageandscreen.com, have poetry extracted from them. You watch yourself holding the book in the flash window on the webpage: the words — sometimes moving, sometimes still; a collection of cryptic love letters, shifting phrases, and combinations of letters rotating and looping back upon themselves — appear to float above each sigil, exploding in a cloud of text with the turn of each page. Borsuk and Bouse have created a wonderful new infrastructure for digital literature which, hopefully, future writers will continue to exploit and further build upon.
December 8, 2013
Four stars for the quirkiness of this page-screen romance and the novelty of tactile poetry that has also been augmented digitally. Spent an evening learning how to read the thing. Unfortunately, some images were too small, even in full screen mode, to delve into. Would like a printed transcript (I'm sure that would make the page happy).
January 31, 2017
The book alone isn't enough: you need an internet-connected, camera-equipped computer to get the text. The forced interaction between text, technology, and reader is a little bit of a joyful miracle, though. It's both playful and serious, and I've shared my copy with all kinds of friends: writers and non-writers alike.
April 28, 2012
Papervision
Between Page and Screen had me at esperanto and augmented me at pagan.
Between Page and Screen had me at esperanto and augmented me at pagan.
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April 29, 2013Coll.
September 13, 2014
this book of poems was totally amazing, between page and screen literally and figuratively.
October 27, 2019
As far as this book/algorithm being a new(ish) form of Concrete poetry, it's gets a solid five+ stars as it's a masterful collab between a writer and a programmer.
February 7, 2017
Amaranth is a brilliant thinker, artist, poet, and speaker. I am privileged to say I got to meet her when she came to read at my MFA's residency this winter. I highly recommend all of her work.
October 13, 2013
very creative!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews