Another thought on GAM3R 7H30RY

On the GAM3R 7H30RY site, there's an interview with Wark (that, oddly and appropriately enough, is made so it appears that the interviewer and Wark are in the game Halo, complete with sound effects. The form of the interview is quite amusing, so you should check it out if solely for that reason). In it, Wark says that having his book put online and allowing comments is like having people shoot at you. But, he added, the comments ended up being critical in a positive way and helped him. Because of this, he said, "It brings out what writing is anyway, which that you're sort of the DJ of other people's thoughts and ideas, and this just makes it manifest."

I was surprised to discover that on the "About this project" page of GAM3R 7H30RY, the people behind the Institute of the Future of the Book seem in control of Wark. It feels like they are the sole creators, while Wark is along for the ride: "The Institute wanted to collaborate with McKenzie because we liked his last book, A Hacker Manifesto. We thought the ideas in that book were important. We also thought McKenzie was doing interesting things with the form of the books he was writing: exploring new structures beyond the page, searching for new distribution channels. " In other words, I get a "we chose him" sense of the project. This seems in-line with Wark's comment that having people critique his book is like having people shoot at him.

I'm also intrigued by Wark's idea of writers as the DJs of other people's thoughts. I grew up thinking of published writers as high-and-mighty, knowledgeable beings, with me--the lowly reader--at his or her command. Of course, in college, I've learned how to critique author's arguments, but I still always put my thoughts and views as secondary to their knowledge. I think that's why these new, online projects of collaboration fascinate me so much. I believe that the online, collaborative book, no matter how unachievable it may be, could be a radical redefining of the stress and problems professors deal with to get things published, which they must do. KF's ideas in the article marmalade posted seem to support this.