Hard Times by Matt Mason and Nicholas Felton

i) Description of the Work
          “Hard Times” is a recent electronic literature work of Matt Mason and Nicholas Felton. The piece has the same title as the classic “Hard Times” by Charles Dickens, yet does not relate to the novel as a whole. However, the e-lit work seems to be following the quote by Mr. Gradgrind in the original novel where he says, “Now, what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else.” The piece is almost a visual narrative, but seems to be lacking a lot of the visual aspect, as it is mainly shapes with words in them. The anthology is laid out in a very unique way, on the bottom of the screen there are ten thumbnail images that are visible to read. The thumbnail images make random controversial statement, once the readers click the thumbnail, they can view the larger image. Once the image is enlarged, the same statement is in bold on the left side of the image, and on the right side there are randomly scattered facts that back up the statement being made. Although the piece technically has nothing to do with the original work, it takes the advice of Mr. Grandgrind to create a fact based catalogue type piece.

ii) Framing Commentary
          “Hard Times” is mostly based on todays society and how it has progressed from how they had once been. It is about law, politics, technology, and modern way of ideas and expression. Interestingly the piece itself is an electronic literature piece, which almost proves what is being claimed in the piece. The E-lit Hard Times is filled with facts and statements that have molded our world to its current state. It is also very interesting that the original “Hard Times” by Charles Dickens also targets a similar idea, as the moral of the novel is recognizing the value of people in an age of materialism and machinery. Today we live in a much more materialistic and technology based society from when the book was published in 1984. Mason and Felton address the issues and problems of the 21st century, while Dickinson had been discussing the issues of the 18th century. It is fascinating how even more than a hundred years later, with a much more intense electronic based society, the same issues are dealt with in the same manner; by using facts. It is also very interesting how in the e-lit Hard Times, the seem to be admiring how the world once had been by making statements such as “Our Parents killed bad ideas with music, we killed bad ideas with new businesses.” This showed that, today we seem to be missing how things had once been, (in the 18th or 19th century) yet the people of the past were also not happy with their state. Mason and Felton walk through many of the issues, but end their piece in a very unique way, with the words “and, we are just getting started.” This means that we actually have no control of whats to happen, and must comply with it as our ancestors once did. Society will change; whether for better or worst, and technology will improve itself daily. Like Mr. Gradgrind, we must simply find the good in people, because we have no control over anything else.

iii) Authors Biography

Prior to being introduced to E-Lit, Matt Mason was a club DJ in London England. He was planning to become the Editor-in-Chief of the seminal magazine RWH. Aside from electronic literature Mason was writing and producing TV series, cmic strips and records . His works have been published in more than 12 counties around the world and he has recently founded the non-profit media company of Wedia. He currently lives in New York City.
Nicholas Felton also lives in New York city, and is actively working as a graphic designer. He has his own studio called Megafone and they are responsible for print and online assignments for both local and foreign clients. Felton has worked for skateboarding and baking industries, and has applied his creativity to many things in both his career and other aspects of his life.

Bibliography

Mason Matt. “About the Author.” The Pirates Dilemma. Web. 8 Aug. 2007.

Felton, Nicholas. “About.” Feltron. Web. 6 Dec, 2008.

Mason, Matt; Felton, Nicholas. “Hard Times”. We Tell Stories. Web. 2008.

Dickens, Charles. “Classic Hard Times”. We Tell Stories. Web 2008.