Introducing Dream-Filters
Thomas Park
February 2021
I conceived of “Dream Filters” in December 2020 as a means of using Python code to relate files in non-linear ways. More specifically, I wanted to create playlists of various media using a fuzzy logic that results in a dream-like feeling. I started by using the data of file creation as determinant, rather than titles or sheer randomness.
Music and video were coded to cluster around certain dates, furnish a few iterations, then move off to a new date point. The web application “Rachel” was created in this manner. When it came time to work with text, I could easily apply the time-centered filter to a number of files. But the text within the files– this could also be manipulated, and that would require an additional logic.
For each iteration, I created a lexicon of several dozen words randomly chosen from the total word list of a text file. Each lines-cluster began with a sentence containing at least one of these words.As a result, there was some repetition but indeed, the texts took on a dreamlike quality– as are dreams, they were semi-episodic, fragmented, and recurred with a rhythm that was hard to describe.
I tried the text version of the dream filter on a number of works, sometimes combining them together. The intention was never to replace the originals– rather, to provide an occasional dream-substitute, if desired.
Go ahead and Explore Dream-Filters here →
Just enter some text and press ‘Prose Submit’ or ‘Poetry Submit’. The code will render your text into a new, dreamlike version, and make it available for download. The new version will not have the same narrative or temporal structure, and may include dream-like repetition. Quite a bit of text can fit in the entry window– scores of pages of it. It is not the intention of this free service to create any lasting record(s) of your original text(s). You retain rights to your text(s), and to the dream version(s), as well. If you manipulate copy written material, please be aware of any potential contractual issues that might be involved. Note that submissions must be a minimum of several paragraphs or 50 or so lines in length to create a result.
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Thomas Park is a multi-disciplinary artist. Though his primary art form is music, he has also created writing, visual art and video art. Thomas happily has been privileged to create in the era of the internet. Therefore, he has been able to share a good body of this material, mostly for free, via various sites, particularly the invaluable:
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