Binary Poetry: birth (Performance)

birth is a binary poem by Delta poetica that translates the act of lighting and extinguishing candles into a system of binary code. A lit candle signifies 1; an extinguished candle, 0. Through this embodied enactment of presence and absence, the work treats the candle, both its material body and its flame, as symbol and signal, bridging human ritual and digital logic.

The piece positions candlelight as a fragile yet resonant medium. Its flickering temporality evokes themes of creation, cessation, and transformation, while simultaneously recalling the precision and abstraction of computational systems. The varied lifespans and forms of the candles emphasize their individuality, underscoring how each act of lighting and extinguishing inscribes a distinct temporal trace within the binary framework. In this interplay, birth reflects on how beginnings are marked, how existence is inscribed, and how life is rendered through both organic and technological registers.

By situating binary within the ephemerality of fire, the work reframes code not only as a technical structure but also as a poetic framework. In birth, symbolic systems are not fixed but negotiated through material presence, sensory experience, and cultural association, inviting viewers to consider how meaning emerges in the unstable space between language, technology, and life.