VII. Discussion

A. Synthesize | B. Emplace | C. Interact | D. Symbolize | E. Emphasize

B. Emplace

The second kind of impact metaphors had on webtext invention was “emplace,” or carving out the “infinite canvas” of digital space in some way that relies on the material logics of a physical space.

One example of “emplace” occurred in Draft 2 of autoethnographic webtext “Dancing Across Media.”

• Spatial | Emplace | Base

I was working on the web design for a collaborative article with Kaustavi Sarkar on motion capture and classical Indian dance. The dance form, Odissi, has a long history of being situated in temple contexts, and it additionally draws on a movement vocabulary based on sculptures that adorn temple walls. As a cultural outsider to Odissi dance traditions, I worked to ground my designs in media elements from Kaustavi rather than trying to generate my own, and many of the media elements she gave me were images from a trip she had recently taken to India. During this trip, she took many pictures of temples and additionally posed for a photoshoot in a temple niche while dressed in an Odissi costume. One of these pictures became the focal point as a central image for the project’s web design, first sketched out in an earlier draft. As I developed out the full draft seen here in Draft 2, this metaphor of the temple took on an increasingly prominent role; it became not only the focal image, but also the base layer for all pages throughout the project, and served as an orienting force for other webtext elements such as the text box, the navigational bars, and even the focal videos. The temple as visual-spatial metaphor helped to establish a “sense of space” within the project, around which I as composer began to orient the other elements of the design.

Another example of “emplace” occurred in Chamberlain, Gramer, and Hartline’s invention narrative for their webtext “Mess, Not Mastery,” published in Computers and Composition Online.

• Spatial | Emplace | Base

Chamberlain, Gramer, and Hartline's webtext is organized with an iMac interface as the metaphorical base for all pages. This metaphor serves to "emplace" the project in several ways. First, it provides a sense of place for organizing the essay's various sections in a way that a reader can easily navigate while knowing where they are at every point, while still offering ambiguity to invite the reader into the technological exploration valued in the webtext's argument. Additionally, the iMac invites the reader into the space of the computer lab itself in which the camp under investigation took place; all campers at one point sat in front of such a computer, with a post-it note in the corner, and the iMac-as-interface situates the reader in precisely such a place. By setting the reader in front of a similar visual interface to those that the campers explored, they are implicitly invited to take on similar digital practices that value "mess" over "mastery."

This can be seen in all three autoethnographically documented case studies, and particularly in the use of a “splash page” that immediately establishes a concrete look-and-feel/sense-of-place in relation to the embodied viewer: of standing eye-level with a bird at its nest, or at the base of a temple looking up, or in front of an arrangement of memorial candles in an otherwise darkened space. Moreover, this new sense-of-place does not simply provide a situating perspective for the viewer but also has a significant impact on the other pieces of the project, particularly insofar as the metaphor becomes a key component of the webtext’s overall base. When occupying such a foundational position as the “splash page” or page base, the metaphor can have a significant impact on the overall juxtaposition of the rest of the pieces on the page and in the project.