Document:Q11097

From Rhizome Artbase

Beadgee treats the book "three young rats and other rhymes", a collection of 19th century nursery rhymes as a closed vocabulary. It is basically a toy and can be understood as a textual instrument. Visitors are given the opportunity to reassemble original drawings (each related to a rhyme) and publish their own hieroglyphs on the site. Users are invited to explode the drawings (gizmos) and build new gizmos from chosen parts. In the process, words from an associated rhyme are linked to the chosen parts. These new creations are published on the site.
The project inspects the ability to communicate an idea with limited means. It harnesses the whimsical aura of both the rhymes and the accompanied drawings toward the creation of an accumulative narrative based on users' participation. The emerged archive is diachronic and multi-voiced.
The project was commissioned by Impakt.nl and realized in 2003 as a part of the "art of narrative" competition.