Arf Magna

By Nick Montfort

Fullscreen viewing is recommended.

“Arf Magna” sings the praises of the canine, not the divine, elaborating on the virtues of man’s best friend. The piece is based on the system of Ramón Llull’s Ars Magna, published in 1305 and including a paper wheel, or volvelle, to allow readers to produce different propositions about God by combining sixteen dignities. “Arf Magna” is also a simple, interactive, verbal machine, with Llull’s volvelle unrolled onto an implicit grid on the computer’s screen. As the user moves the mouse horizontally and vertically to produce propositions, colors shift and notes sound pleasingly. The entire artwork is contained in a single page of HTML and is free/libre/open-source software. It can simply be saved and edited, but those who prefer to fork “Arf Magna” on GitHub can also find the project there.