Comments on: Flittr http://sumitsays.com/2009/05/15/flittr/ Sat, 20 Feb 2010 10:15:26 +0100 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Sarah E. http://sumitsays.com/2009/05/15/flittr/comment-page-1/#comment-135 Sarah E. Fri, 22 May 2009 19:07:46 +0000 http://s238191245.websitehome.co.uk/stories/?p=39#comment-135 Love the voice of this story, and it's all too plausible. Love the voice of this story, and it’s all too plausible.

]]> By: L http://sumitsays.com/2009/05/15/flittr/comment-page-1/#comment-132 L Sun, 17 May 2009 18:36:16 +0000 http://s238191245.websitehome.co.uk/stories/?p=39#comment-132 love the flit story love the flit story

]]> By: Sumit Dam http://sumitsays.com/2009/05/15/flittr/comment-page-1/#comment-19 Sumit Dam Fri, 15 May 2009 11:09:14 +0000 http://s238191245.websitehome.co.uk/stories/?p=39#comment-19 Halfway through writing this it occurred to me that "flit" is an old-fashioned pejorative term for gay men. (Holden Caulfield uses it in this way in <i>The Catcher in the Rye</i>.) I don't know if that increases the resonance of this story or weakens it, but either way, no offence is intended. I did think about renaming it "fluttr", but that doesn't rhyme with the name of <a href="http://twitter.com" title="Twitter.com" rel="nofollow">A Popular Microblogging Service</a>. (That didn't stop <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&v=BeLZCy-_m3s" rel="nofollow">Slate</a>, mind you.) I am <a href="http://www.twitter.com/sumitsays" title="sumitsays on Twitter" rel="nofollow">a fan</a>, incidentally, though I do understand why some bemoan the way such services are eliminating <a href="http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/03/09/the_joy_of_boredom/" rel="nofollow">the joy of boredom</a>. I wrote this early in 2008 (when it probably would have seemed a lot more original), inspired by <i>Dawn Chorus</i>, a <a href="http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/visualart/story/0,,1998114,00.html" rel="nofollow">video installation</a> by artist Marcus Coates in which people are made to resemble singing birds by speeding up footage of them making weird croaks and squeaks. I saw this enacted <a href="http://www.barbican.org.uk/artgallery/event-detail.asp?ID=7173" rel="nofollow">live at the Barbican</a>, and it was truly extraordinary how the physical demands involved made the singers move similarly to birds when speeded up. (This seems to be a <a href="http://www.frieze.com/issue/article/focus_marcus_coates" rel="nofollow">recurring theme</a> in Coates' work: if I recall correctly, his attempt to understand the mind of a goshawk by being strapped to the upper branches of a Scots pine won him an appearance in <i>Private Eye</i>'s Pseuds Corner.) Halfway through writing this it occurred to me that “flit” is an old-fashioned pejorative term for gay men. (Holden Caulfield uses it in this way in The Catcher in the Rye.) I don’t know if that increases the resonance of this story or weakens it, but either way, no offence is intended. I did think about renaming it “fluttr”, but that doesn’t rhyme with the name of A Popular Microblogging Service. (That didn’t stop Slate, mind you.) I am a fan, incidentally, though I do understand why some bemoan the way such services are eliminating the joy of boredom.

I wrote this early in 2008 (when it probably would have seemed a lot more original), inspired by Dawn Chorus, a video installation by artist Marcus Coates in which people are made to resemble singing birds by speeding up footage of them making weird croaks and squeaks. I saw this enacted live at the Barbican, and it was truly extraordinary how the physical demands involved made the singers move similarly to birds when speeded up. (This seems to be a recurring theme in Coates’ work: if I recall correctly, his attempt to understand the mind of a goshawk by being strapped to the upper branches of a Scots pine won him an appearance in Private Eye’s Pseuds Corner.)

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