A VOICE FROM THE FIRE

MAY

William Blake -- poet, bookmaker, painter, song-writer -- was an 18th Century multi-media artist of the inspired sort. No wonder, then that he should be come the rapturous subject of a new-fangled interactive CD-ROM. James Petrillo, a purveyor of fine literary conceits (as his earlier Cinema Volta testifies), found his mad march in this renegade from the Enlightenment. Summoning a bounty of forms Qlive actions, spoken words, moving images, classical music, hypertext links, and dreamy illustrations -- Petrillo and Davis have created the ingenious A Voice From The Fire. Blake's agony in the world of material strife is set against the ecstasy of time spent in pure imagination. A selection of dramatic duets between husband and wife unfolds, each a linear story with decorative elements from Blake's painting and manuscripts illuminating the often naughty departures. Operating on an intimate level particular to this interactive medium, the CD-ROM also allows a personally tailored exploration of Blake's paintings, revealing detail as never before. And it is in the subtlety of markings and meter that A Voice From The Fire evokes the fundamental delirium of William Blake the multimedia poet.