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.
Other eZines on the Web and the Net that We Recommend
We're not the only ones out here. Here are some of our favorites
other e-zines.
Read the zine. Chew the fat. Sleep on it. Get back to us.
How to Read Enterzone
Colophon
Disclaimers
About the Authors
Enterzone Home Page