Bubbe's Back Porch
Abbe Don is both a web artist and a story-telling artist. This particular
web site attempts to create the feel of a grandmother's kitchen where you
can sit down and drink a bowl of (chicken, what else?) soup. This site
is primarily story telling, and thus a "next" link is among the most common
links. The objective isn't to confuse the reader, or give him or her multiple
navigational possibilities, but rather to draw him or her into the story.
The hypertext here is primarily utilitarian, and when navigational choices
are offered the reader they has a quality of something that comes only
on special occasions.
Justin Hall's
web site
Justin has become a web institution, and rightly so. Since the mid
1990's his web site has been an online diary which links freely and associatively
to himself, his friends, his work, and to just about anything that pops
into his mind. Over the years his page design has changed (though it hasn't
necessarily developed - Justin has chosen different metaphors for his presentation
and after tiring of them moved on to others) but the basic concept of rather
short paragraphs, with links in almost each of them, has remained the basic
style. Justin isn't the only web author to write in this manner, but he's
among the best at it. The site contains, by Justin's count, over 2,000
separate items that he has written over the years. The topic is, of course,
himself.
Justin is also a web evangelist.
Rebecca
Lynn Eisenberg - Revenge is Sweet)
Rebecca has been publishing her mix of diary and comment on the web
since 1995. Sometimes her structure is similar to Justin, but she also
attempts to organize her links into logical categories, though the logic
is sometimes only her own. Along with diary-like items there are also reviews,
published articles, and much more. If Justin presents himself on the web
and allows the reader to determine for him or herself just who he is, Rebecca
offers a number of personae and doesn't seem to care which the reader chooses
to identify as the real one. The navigation on the site seems to shift
in accordance to the persona she assumes.
William
Calvin's web site
William Calvin is probably the best proof of the claim that the most
important element of an interesting web site is an interesting person who
posts it. Calvin is a prolific author who writes primarily about consciousness
and the brain, and much of his main page is devoted to advertisements for
his books. His site offers one of the longest scrolls available with list
upon list of links. Calvin maintains a list of books he's read and enjoyed,
often with short reviews of them, and at one point his "public bookmarks"
were posted as well. Calvin is person who thinks that there's a lot that's
worth knowing, and his use of hypertext is a means of bringing us as close
to that information as possible.
WildWoman, Running
With the Wolves
No, this isn't slumming, though someone might think it's inclusion
here would be. This is an incredibly eclectic site, with each page reflecting
a different aspect of the artist, and it's thus quite logical, even if
not particularly aesthetically pleasing, that almost each page has a different
feel. WildWoman's site tells her own personal story, and the stories of
many of her friends. It contains examples of her pottery, her opinions
on just about everything, and much more. Her hyperlinks maintain no consistent
pattern. Like the different feel of each page, the methods she uses to
link to other sources seem to change with the atmosphere.
Now just why was it that I reviewed all of these sites?