Artur Matuck

E-nomothete or Electronomothete, an electronic name giver; a computeraided linguistic methodology for devising new words; a co-authored human machine interaction for 'the correctness of names', for the invention of neologisms, for the generation of word-concepts.

 

The Electronomothete process starts with the definition of a phenomenon to be named and follows some artistically-defined steps leading to a creative writing process conducted in interaction with a pre-programmed computer. In this case, the phenomenon selected was the electronic name-giving process itself, provisionally entitled "de-scripting" or more recently "electroscript." This process of human computer writing interaction has been in a constant process of searching for its own name since it was first conceived around 1995 in Gainesville, Florida.

 

The term "de-scripting" was utilized in the first phase in which the ewriting (electronic-writing) process was almost solely utilized with the purpose of "de-writing" words and phrases, that is, of making them less inteligible through the random or semi-random process of letter substitution. "Descripting" indicates the computer process of altering existing words. The terms "compwriting" and "ewriting" were also used.

 

The term "electroscript" was considered to be more appropriate when the process evolved to a more self-conscious process of linguistic construction in which the computer program would act as a generator of phrases or words and not only as the modifier of pre-existing words. "Electroscript" derives from the term "manuscript" in that it implies that the newly generated texts are actually the result of a form of electronic writing in contrast with old manuscrits that were created by hand.

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What it has been attempted to be described is the fact that writing, which has been traditionally a human activity, is now becoming or it may become an interfacial human-machine activity. Terms such as "digital writing" or "electroscript" attempt to describe this interactional process occuring between humans and computers in the process of writing.

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The term "electronomothete" reflects a proposed human action directed towards the computer program. It indicates a proposed human performance to be acted out in interaction with the simultaneous operation of the computer program.

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Research into the history of linguistics, into the history of writing has led me into the reading of "Cratylus" by Plato and of some of its comentators. In this dialogue Socrates brings into the discussion the Nomothete, the Namegiver, a mythical character whose function was to provide things with names.

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Electronomothete describes a performance involving a handwriting interaction with Landscript, an interactive Web site populated with virtual writing machines, known as 'virtual typewriters'. This conceptualization inscribed in the term "electronomothete" describes the process more completely since the computer never works alone but always in interaction with human agents. The performance makes evident an ongoing process of collaboration between the computer specific habilities and the human endeavors and creative habilities.