Sample Griot Output for "November Qualia"

Below are two typical examples of what might be produced in a Griot-based performance of the "November Qualia" polypoem. Each example has five sections, an introduction followed by four short haiku-like poems, each representing a particular moment of consciousness of the polypoem author. These sections are constructed by Griot by blending sets of conceptual spaces (i.e., ontologies) that describe aspects of the states of mind of the poet at 4 precise moments (each moment a "quale"), plus background content, mainly of a Buddhist character. A polypoem is a very large family of poems having a common theme but varying content and structure, as well as novel metaphors. The high level structure of this polypoem is a variant of haibun, which is most famously used in Basho's great Oku no Hosomichi. The original neo-haibun from which the qualia of the polypoem are derived is November Qualia, by Joseph Goguen. Here is a link to the Griot source code for the spaces and structures involved in the first poem in the sequence (which is the second block of lines, headed "6:41 am").

Griot is a computer program designed and written by Fox Harrell in joint work with Joseph Goguen. Its purpose is to generate interactive multimedia events, and its main component is a novel algorithm called Alloy, which generates new structures and metaphors by blending, based on recent research in cognitive linguistics, computer science, and semiotics; see the Griot system homepage for technical details, and see the CalIT2 opening performance page for more about how Griot was used in this real event. A "simulated" Griot performance was also given, by Joseph and Ryoko Goguen, at the Kampo Museum in Kyoto, on 13 December 2005.

November Qualia

qualia are moments of luminous world,
     empty, suffering, compassion
mind body snapshots
neither arising, departing, or dwelling
gone beyond
gone far beyond

6:41 am
mind cloud ocean
unmoved moving trees
connecting blue high, blue emptiness flesh
forever being sky
timeless, perfected tender self

6:53 am
the pipes:-
connecting, pipes of compassion
vivid bolted
shining, empty
neither atomic nor not
always connecting
timeless, perfected
beyond being beyond

7:26 pm
save us from fear, wanting
addict & moonlight, wanting & timeless forgotten
bright grasping fear
vultures of mind, forever circling
embracing transient form
ecstatic revulsion, wanting

1:47 am
translucent flesh, tender, inscrutable
unending mother ocean
biomass being, vital & vivid
all connected, empty, void
burning mind & self
ecstatic tender burning void

November Qualia

qualia are moonlight moments of luminous form,
     moments of emptiness & consciousness
fleeting, luminous, empty
qualia are not objective platonic truths
gone, no loss, no gain

6:41 am
clear moments of empty cloud masses
mind cloud ocean
luminous static canopy
motionless moving
past unending & empty blue mind road
almost too lovely to bear

6:53 am
pipes, vivid dust red
connected form & heart dust
vivid bolted
their shining
dependent, empty, no void
silent red
always connecting
still more than stillness

7:26 pm
save us from desire, tender
fixed, forgotten
bright hunger, concept billboard
neon, void, lost
hanging vapor & desire, other
beyond form & emptiness

1:47 am
zooplankton inscrutable
writhing, mutated, infinite
light, dots, ever
swimming, flesh empty luminous
infinite empty perception
living illusion & moving, completed

by by Joseph Goguen, using Griot
La Jolla
To the CalIT2 Performance Homepage
Griot source code for first poem (2nd block of lines)
To the Computational Narratology homepage