the wandering i

ANU, Landmark Productions & Museum of Literature Ireland (MoLi)

Ulysses 2.2: 1 Book. 1 Year. 18 Artistic Experiments

“What would a brain scan of a Joyce reader look like? What happens between mind and page?”

the wandering i is an interactive audio-visual experience which uses eye-tracking software and responsive soundscape to show your unique reading of Ulysses.

We take our reading skills for granted, but it is not actually a plodding business of looking at one word and then the next - reading is a dance of difficulty, interest and delight. Our eyes skip and pirouette across the sentences, while our brains fill in the blanks.

And Ulysses is full of blanks: it is full of things we don’t entirely understand. Joyce demands that we figure things out for ourselves so, more than any other book, Ulysses happens in the reader’s head. This makes it a profoundly democratic work. Each unique reading makes Ulysses bigger, by the choices we make and the meanings we take, as our eyes move across the page.

First presented at the Museum of Literature Ireland in 2022 to celebrate the centenary of the publication of James Joyce’s Ulysses.

Curated by Anne Enright

Voice actors: Anne Enright, Colm Lennon, Doireann Ní Bhriain & Anthony Nolan

Digital Producer: Hugh Farrell

Eye-Tracking Technician: Seán Higgins (Future Proof Insights)

Videography & Visuals: Ben O’Neill & Christos Celniku (Future Proof Insights)

Software Developer: Dakota Stipp

Sound Designer: Tyler Kieffer

Sound Engineering & Recording: Ian Dunphy

Producers: Lynnette Moran & Matthew Smyth | ANU; Anne Clarke | Landmark Productions; Simon O’Connor | MoLI

Artistic Directors: Louise Lowe & Owen Boss | ANU

Curatorial Assistant: Katie Mishler