Top Online Multimedia Projects

Readers recommend a selection of online multimedia projects.

© Andrea Donderi

May 18, 2006

Here's a lineup of online diversions for various tastes, each one recommended by a reader. Most of the items linked in the first three require Flash, but if you don't already have the player, you can get it here.

• From Australia, via Film Victoria, here are twenty folk tales from around the world, each beautifully animated by a different artist. Eight stories are from Asia and the Pacific, four from Europe, two from the Americas, and three each from Africa and the Middle East. You can listen to the text either in English or in the language spoken in the story's homeland; you can also watch all of the animators tell you how they approached their stories.
• Fans of William S. Burroughs may be interested in an assortment of non-writing (Flash, QuickTime, audio) available at the Burroughs-dedicated Reality Studio.From their introduction: "Burroughs may have been a writer, but for him the tools of the trade were not confined to typewriters or pens. He wrote with anything that could make a mark or leave a trace, a tape effect or a shotgun blast."
• Matt Mazur's Elftrance site has maintained a certain cult status since it first appeared in 2001. (The main site can be confusing in some browsers; if it doesn't work well for you, you can see a menu of projects instead. It's best known for its psychedelia involving magic mushrooms, monkeys, and Terence McKenna miscellany, which probably won't suit everyone; but you'd need a heart of stone not to respond to Mazur's memorial tribute to his dog Sparky.
• And now for something completely different. Remember those folded-paper games in which you'd write or draw something, fold over all but the last sliver, the next person would have to pick up where you left off, and you'd pass it around till you ended up with something hilarious? If you like making online art and you'd rather participate than watch passively, you can sign up for a round of An Exquisite Corpse. (I was surprised to read that this is the name that André Breton's surrealist group gave their version of this game.) Even if you don't want to play yourself, take a look at the results; some of them are magnificent. Here's all of May 2006 so far.

A reminder: if you know of a project that belongs here, please let me know! The scope is pretty broad here; people have been generous with online materials, but also think about public multimedia spectacles, indoor installations, and performances anywhere in the world.

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