As a creative platform, the computer has mainly been imagined for graphics and animated pictures. The Writing Machine Collective 2nd Edition (WMC_2) begs to open up the computer’s machine capabilities in the play with words, texts and speech, without forsaking the visual. We discover new ways to write playfully via the computer – typing, striking, extracting, overlaying, swaying, walking, and more. Our collective activity invites visitors to partake in the very playful aspects of new media art.

Writing Machine Collective 2nd Edition [WMC_e2] aims at presenting accessible, and yet quality works with a strong research impulse to the public to illustrate one kind of possibility for new media art. This involves a new experience of writing via computer-programming-based machine capabilities.

In this edition, we particularly focused on a dialogue with Generative Art, a form of art that has been extensively explored in 20th-century fine arts and experimental literature, and more recently in media arts that involve code-based programming. In addition, we seek to ensure the works selected to shed light on our banal everyday life setting and popular cultural elements as much as possible.
All the exhibited works are interaction-based, and some highlight real-time performance. Compared with works in WMC_e1 (2004), next to the idea of machine, and the materiality of writing, we have placed a much stronger emphasis on interface design in order to strengthen the installation art quality of these works.

The interests and individual strength of the 11 artists (or teams) pertain to very different possibilities of the future development of the “Writing Machine,” and only a full assemblage of them helps to illustrate to the public the richness and diversity of this rather less attended aspect of new media arts. Along with the exhibition, a broad range of educational activities will be carried out to bring the project to fruition, including lectures, workshops, and an on-line virtual parallel exhibition, all of which will cover a six-month period.

From the perspective of research impulses, WMC_e2 is essential for further clarification of the theoretical issues and creative impulses involved in the play with technology. WMC_e2 embraces long-term multi-disciplinary enquiry, and therefore it should be more than just an exhibition of finished works.

(Curator: Linda Lai)

涉及電腦的創作通常局限於純視覺的一類圖像設計。文字機器創作集（第 2 輯）希望打破這個框框，在不放棄視覺觀感的前提下，以電腦作為創意寫作的工具，令寫作變成一項好玩的集體活動，也說明打破作者與觀者界限、打開作品的參與性，不單是新媒體藝術的創作方法，也是新媒體藝術的政治理想。

Exhibiting Artworks 展出作品

Wii Writes What Wii Moves
Ray C.H. CHAN, Keith Y.K. LAM

Body Language《身體語言》
Gabbie Y.L. CHIU, Venda N.C. LEE, Told Y.S. TO, K.C. YIP

Who is Singing? - Donald, can you hear me?《誰在唱歌？…曾特首，你聽見我嗎？》
Lawrence C.Y. CHOI, Linda C.H. LAI

Untitled Announcements《無題公告》
Nick FOXALL

de - code x re- write《複製巨著》
Coco L.K. HO

Within a System (of Translation)《活於系統之內(的翻譯本)》
Janice Y.L. LEUNG

Station《下一站》
Hector RODRIGUEZ

grARTphicator《算畫匣》
Eric C.M. SIU

Genetic Text《文字再培訓》
Told Y.S. TO

TYPING MACHINE (JUNK MAIL FACTORY)《打字機器 (垃圾電郵工廠)》
Justin C.T. WONG

Alliance《連》
Morgan W.F. WONG