Content
Lyricall as a movement
1. Response to the standardized sterility of art
This point comes first because it is the main reason why the Lyricall project was created.
Today’s art and creativity in general are dehumanized, sterile, delicately correct, and one-dimensional. Art is repetitive, unoriginal, and unvaried. The need to truly experiment has disappeared. Artists and the companies that support them optimize for populism. This phenomenon is natural in a free market and is not technically wrong. Authors are simply adapting their offerings to demand. In our opinion, consumers are responsible for this state of affairs.
Our view can be explained metaphorically by comparing a wax apple and a real apple:
Imagine two baskets of apples in front of you. One contains wax apples and the other real apples. Even though the wax apples are beautiful to look at, they have no nutritional value and actually all look the same. They have no taste and no smell. They are an artificial product for superficial aesthetic satisfaction.
Real apples are sometimes bruised, battered, maybe even cracked, they don’t have a nice color or a symmetrical shape. But they are a real and honest product of something alive. They have nutritional value. They have a taste that may not be appreciated by everyone, but at least they have a taste that can be responded to. That you can have an opinion about. Each apple is unique and not a product made according to a “proven template.”
This point is even more relevant in the age of AI.
2. Decentralization
Today, art creation is centralized and monopolized. A small group of companies, and therefore people, have the power to decide on the success of authors, set limits on correctness, and sometimes even control censorship. As the authors of this project, we ask who they are to decide on the cultural development of society and what is good for it.
Freedom of expression is one of the most valuable things a person can have, and as we know from history (unfortunately in many countries even today), it cannot be taken for granted. Because art is one of the most important forms of free speech. Its censorship or moderation of content violates the most fundamental human right, the right to free speech. Decentralization helps protect this fundamental right.
The lyricall project should be one of those that initiates decentralization and inspires others to independent creation.
3. Liberation of language and expression
Language serves people, not the other way around. Language is a tool for human expression, and those who use it hold the reins. Linguistic rules are meant to help people understand how language works and serve as a guide, not as a tool for bureaucratizing and rigidifying language. Language should be a living and constantly evolving element.
Even poetry has no superior form. There is no right way to write poetry, even though in the past many manifestos and documents have been written that have attempted to bind the forms of its expression. It is okay to express one’s opinion, but it is not okay to enforce its observance. If someone decides to follow a particular direction, it should always be a voluntary decision by the individual, not a presumption by authority.
Lyricall the platform
Lyricall is minimalistic, multilingual and open source platform for free minded poetry publishing. It is maintained by Jan Černý. If you want to you can send feed back in for of github issue or make pull request.
Technological principles
- No JavaScript - This whole site does not contain any javascript. Feel free to turn it off.
- No cookies - The whole platform does not use any cookies. That mean we do not have to annoy you with banners and using this site is very safe.
- No external sources - Everything on this site is loaded from it’s own server.
- Respect for users privacy - This site does not collect any information about it’s visitors. You can browse it in complete anonymity.
- Wide range of compatibility including CLI browsers - Lyricall works on every standard web browser including terminal ones. For browsing Lyricall we highly recommend w3m CLI browser.
- No paid content and advertisements - By declining any form of advertisement or paid content we can provide maximal objectivity without external influence and stay independent.
- Full markdown and support - Lyricall has complete LaTeX support including macros. You can freely combine it with markdown and Lyricall provide best typographic quality.
- 100% static - The whole site is completely static and does not use any backend at all.
- RSS support - Lyricall has automatically generated feed. Feel free to add into
your RSS readers:
lyricall.cz/feed.xml - No social media integration - This site is not connected with any social media. Sorry Zuckeberg but you will have to find another way how to spy on our users.
- SEO friendly - Lyricall is designed for maximal search engine optimization.
- Minimalistic desing - The whole design is is made in way it will not disturb users with visual smog.
- Open Source - Source code of this whole project is open source. You can find it Github.
Technological background
Used technologies:
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