I had mentioned in the BBC article that the lab was missing one computer needed to do our work: a computer that could run Windows 1995 and had a 5.25-inch floppy disk drive. From that news story we received one! A big shout out to John McNamara from Canada who took the time to ship one to us. You can see it unboxed and sitting on the table in ELL. I need to connect it to one of my monitors and test it tomorrow.
And the timing is perfect because also this week my colleague Jonathan Baillehache, who taught French for years at the University of Georgia, shipped me a box of electronic literature by French artists, such as Jean-Pierre Balpe, Philippe Bootz, and others who worked from the mid-1980s onward. Among the materials were folios of 3.5-inch and 5.25-inch floppy disks, CD-ROM packaged in the original jewel cases, and chap books of experimental poetry.
It must be an alignment of the planets because next week the Jean-Pierre Balpe exhibition opens in Paris at the Bibliothèque nationale de France. The lab was commissioned to work with the curator Erika Fülöp to create the exhibition website and do some preservation work on the works in the show. Some that Jonathan sent me are already included, but many of them are not. While it is too late to add them now, the good news is that in July the exhibition opens again in Toronto at the Electronic Literature Organization’s 2025 Media Art Festival. I will be able to add some of the additional works Jonathan sent me in that show, using the computer in some cases that John sent me to make sure the 5.25-inch floppy disks function.
Here is a list of the works Jonathan sent:
Donation from Jonathan Baillehache
A:/Litterature.Université de Lille: Circav-Gerico. 1994. Includes 3.5-inch floppy disks for Mac and Windows. Poetry by Balpe, Bootz, Luty, and Papp. Included in the Balpe exhibition: Item 6, “Hommage à Jean Tardieu.”
Computer Poems. Edited (reads “gathered”) by Richard W. Bailey. Drummond Island, MI: Potagannissing Press, 1973. A collection of poetry by 15 poets from the U.S., Canada, and the UK.
LaRevue KAOS, Issue 1. Puteaux, France: Bleu Petrol, n.d. A collection of works by Michael Lechner (KAOS), Jean-Pierre Balpe (Stances D-Amour Éternel), Tibor Papp (Les Très Riches Heures de L’Ordinateur No. 5, 1985), and Philippe Bootz (A Bribes Abattues, 1990).
LaRevue KAOS, Issue 3, 129/130. Puteaux, France: Bleu Petrol, 1992. Floppy disk. Included in the Balpe exhibition: Item 5 “Autobiographie.”
Botanique Numérique. L’Herbier. Jean-Pierre Balpe et Miguel Chevalier. Gallimard. 2009. Included in the Balpe exhibition: Item 15, “Herbarius”
ALAMO. Action Poétique 95. Spring 1984. Nimes, France. A collection of poems that includes Jean-Pierre Balpe.
“Cent un poems du poet aveugle.” By Jean-Pierre Balpe. Farrago: Tours, 1999. Included in the Balpe exhibition: Item 12, “Trois mythologies et un poète aveugle.” A collection of poetry by Balpe.
ALIRE, No. 1, 1989, reedition 1994. Editée par Mots-Voir. Booklet.
ALIRE, No. 2, 1989, reedition 1994. Editée par Mots-Voir. Booklet.
ALIRE, No. 3, Jun 1990, reedition 1994. Editée par Mots-Voir. Booklet.
ALIRE, No. 4, Février 1990, reedition 1994. Editée par Mots-Voir. Booklet.
ALIRE, No. 5. Décembre 1991, reedition 1994. Floppy disk holder with Mac and PC floppy disks.
ALIRE, No. 6, Décembre 1992, reedition 1994. Editee par Mots-Voir. Booklet.
ALIRE, No. 7. Avril 1994. Floppy disk holder with Mac and PC floppy disks.
ALIRE, No. 8. Novembre 1994. Floppy disk holder with Mac and PC floppy disks. Included in the Balpe exhibition: Item 7, “L’Esprit humain.”
ALIRE, No. 9. June 1995. Floppy disk holder with Mac and PC floppy disks.
ALIRE. 1995. CD-ROM.
ALIRE. 1997. CD-ROM.
ALIRE. 1999. Mots-Voir: Villeneuve. CD-ROM.
ALIRE. 1998. CD-ROM. A CD-ROM containing works by Abrahams, Bootz, Glazier, Papp, Strasser and others.
ALIRE, 2004. Mots-Voir: Villeneuve. A CD-ROM containing Balpe, and also Andrews, Strasser, Cayley, Papp and others.
ALIRE. 13. 2008. CD-ROM in jewel case, containing art by Bootz.
ALIRE. 14, 2009. CD-ROM in jewel case, containing art by Bootz and Marcel Frémiot.