Enterzone Statement of Purpose

Date: 3 Aug 1995 16:41:53 GMT
Organization: Alt.Usenet.Manifestoes


[This Statement of Purpose is taken from the home page for
Enterzone, a hyperzine.  I highly recommend Enterzone:
I think it's one of the best sites on the Web.

The Statement of Purpose is written by Enterzone's publisher,
Christian Crumlish (xian@pobox.com).         -- moderator]

 
Enterzone


                             STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
                                       
What is Enterzone?

   Enterzone is a hyperzine of writing, art, and new media. It features
   criticism, fiction, philosophy, hypertexts, computer graphics,
   reportage, interactive artforms, scanned photography, sounds, and
   drawings. In Enterzone we are actively seeking new metaphors for the
   dissemination and sharing of creative work. We draw on publishing and
   broadcasting models while seeking to invent entirely new paradigms.
   
   The interactive nature of the World Wide Web allows us to link
   responses to our articles. This adds the dimension of a symposium or a
   salon to the magazine.
   
Why Do We Do It?

   We want to put high quality writing and art into circulation, to
   publish cheaply and internationally. We also want to explore and begin
   to take advantage of an entirely new communication medium. We want to
   strain at the limitations of the World Wide Web, push the boundaries
   whenever possible, make the Web catch up with us. When you start
   reaching out through your computer screen for the pictures, words,
   moments, and ideas that you need, then you'll be in Enterzone, and
   we'll be waiting for you.
   
What Kind of Stuff is in Enterzone?

   What's the point? What's the theme? Does Enterzone have a unifying
   principle? These are fair questions but they are difficult to answer.
   We were not completely satisfied with "stuff that Christian thinks is
   groovy" as an answer. Changing groovy to hep didn't help much either.
   
   We like honest writing, words that don't flinch, ideas followed
   through to their bitter conclusions. We like striking art, rich in
   detail or subtle in gradation. We want a theme song to play when you
   arrive in the Zone. We like criticism that's not looking over its
   shoulder to see what all the other critics think. We like art that
   isn't finished until you've touched it.
   
   Miraculously, themes have begun to emerge, found themes. Enterzone
   episode 1 drew our attention to the alien within us; episode 2 turned
   out to be about fusion, about telling stories with pictures and words,
   about inviting readers to share a little of the authoring, about the
   birth of beat and its long shadow; and episode 3 might just be about
   California and about hidden surprises that lie off the beaten path.
   
Old Media Are Good Media

   We like old media just fine. Sure, we're excited about new media. We
   want to twist your mind inside out and hand it back to you when you
   least expect it, but we like poetry too, and well-turned phrases,
   telling fiction, sharply observed commentary, meandering digressions
   and wild tangents.
   
   We recognize that there are forms of visual art that never leave the
   computer. Created on screen, they are best viewed on screen. Then
   again, we want to overcome the limitations of digitized, rasterized,
   color-approximated art and serve up traditional forms such as
   sketches, paintings, and photographs. (Of course there are also the
   bionic art forms that pass in and out of the world of machines on
   their way to your eyes.)
   
Can it Core a Apple?

   Enterzone doesn't do everything we want it to do yet. There's no
   video, for example. Economies of bandwidth still favor text. It's such
   a compact medium. And even though we want to include every possible
   type of reader out there, we're not going to hold back the evolution
   of Enterzone to cater to the slowest, least graphical connections.
   
You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet

   If you like what you see so far, just wait until episode 4! Or don't
   wait. Contribute. We invite responses to our articles and will add
   them to threads, meaning newer articles or letters that relate to
   previous articles will contain hyperlinks to their antecedents. (See
   the Letters to the Zone page for examples.) We're looking for dialog,
   debate, parody, controversy.
   
   We're called a zone for a reason. As you flit across the World Wide
   Web, you might pass through this zone, this interstitial place that
   isn't in any single physical place. In the Enterzone, ideas are the
   currency and no tariffs apply. Before you know it, you'll have crossed
   over the borderline again, you'll have exited the zone on your
   continuous quest for the next idea, but you'll know where to find us.
   
But Enough of This Hyperbabble

   Read the zine. Chew the fat. Sleep on it. Get back to us.

Enterzone