Whether hypermedia or something else, whether remediation or wholly constructed new media, “Liquidity Issues” certainly is new media. “Liquidity” brings numerous media elements – sound, video, still images, text – together into a cohesive project.
Perhaps the most immediately noticeable aspect is the sound, as alluded to in the title of this section. My initial reaction was that it was a thunderstorm, but upon reflection, it could also be a river. It was also suggested to me that it could possibly be “womb noises,” which starts a fascinating new read of the poem. But after you wonder whether it is a thunderstorm, or whether it is a river, or whether it is womb noise, you wonder whether it will stop because it’s getting a bit irritating. It won’t. Nor will it change. You get this lovely sound throughout the entire presentation, unwavering, unending. No way to view the presentation without it. I hope you weren’t listening to music before you started viewing the project.

I rant because the sound (and my fury regarding the sound) represents an important aspect to “Liquidity” – it does combine a number of different mediums, but it does so in a somewhat clumsy way. The sound is but a part of the problematic user-interface presented – or better, the lack of user interface. As mentioned earlier, you can’t go backward or view anything other than what you are being directed to next. Up at the top of the screen there is a segmented bar, giving you the false hope that perhaps you could skip around lexia. You can’t. You are not in control. You will take what you are given. Is that noise the vein in your head throbbing in frustration?

The lack of decision-making on the part of the audience certainly seems like a rebellion against hypertext/media, but it’s a rebellion without a real cause. I mentioned before that the piece is shiny, and it is that. But the looping, ceaseless sound illustrates that once you’ve seen this shiny thing, the luster wears off quickly. But should we expect it to be endlessly shiny and new, or can we except it as it is?