committing to an idea, realizing a gesture, no matter how small - brainstorming even, mapping ideas - transforms potential energy into kinetic energy. even thought patterns - the reinforcement of neural pathways - inscribe limiting and increasingly structured parameters. but these structures allow for momentum to build. reinforced structures may trade broad potential for specific, linear exploration.
reading and writing are linear activities. one can instantly 'read' the gestalt of a book (for example, by looking at its cover) but only with the recognition that this gestalt is the 'first word' within a directional text. one can also immediately 'read' a painting as a painting, or a table as a table - a word as a word - and stop there. but the potential for linear reading always exists. a line viewed head-on appears to be a point. 'recursive' and 'elliptical' readings occur within a linear structure. a moebius strip may read as an object - (and this reading may continue along these lines, as a sculptural or symbolic text) - but the strip itself (as a two dimensional text) is read linearly. the static 'gestalt' occurs in parallel with [the realization or potential of] a unidirectional reading.
i have been largely concerned with gestalt recently, and this has led to inaction. rather than texts (like this one) which extend a single line, i attempt to visual an entire text instantaneously. conceiving of certain points, imagining where intersections might occur if perspective is shifted. careful not to 'draw' these lines because of the linear nature of drawing. the seeming impossibility of non-linear creation within the linear context of time. the unavoidable loss of energy in transfer from potential to kinetic.
while working on 2001 i felt linear momentum that approximated that of 'reality'. a virtual world sustained by my own participation. recently i have felt less of a desire to escape the real world than to re-engage with it (with 2001 remaining a strong possibility). but how and for what purpose? i primarily experience privatized motives: to influence/engage the flow of cultural and monetary capital in a local setting, to form connections with others, to position oneself strategically within society, personal therapy.
is 'comics' as a cultural/historic text worth engaging and/or possible to avoid? reform or relocation is necessary in order for certain readings to occur on a mass/public scale. relocation involves adopting (and possibly reforming) new language. is there some inbetween - a space on the fringe of multiple languages in which creolization might occur?
the public reading of a text unalterably rewrites the text itself. the publishing company that publishes a work, the anthology that displays it, the store that sells it, these are determining factors in the creation of a text. language/design/gestalt is often the first word of a text. in this sense my attempt at nonlinear creation resembles linear writing, a line that runs from abstract (distributed authored object) to specific (individual private reading). am i simply stammering over the first word in a potential text?
7 comments:
where I'm at, too, lately
hmmm - or the opposite?
DFW said that in person he would appear possibly dumb, but writing could allow him (by sculpting the spontaneity more carefully) to appear very smart. Striving to fail thru allowing for vulnerability vis a vis including "embarrasing" moments of actuality that are left alone.
Interested, though, in what happens after pen is put to paper and some "thing" is created. What do you do with that thing? Where do you place it? How do you make use of it? And how the end result of your creative efforts can't be unpacked backwards to show the steps leading to its creation: temporal anti-gestalt. Beauty of that sculpted non-spontaneous/spontaneous "thing."
Also, the logic of linear extrapolation within virtual environments (whether the environment simulates the physical or is more tertiary, i.e. simulating a mental mapping of physical or linear processes).
-also a nice metaphor for self, which is simultaneously a controlled, sculpted quasi-virtual thing and an existing-in-the-world thing that has to react spontaneously to contend with it
Time is continuously chipping away the inessential elements while also adding new ones
the new design is gorgeous
re virtual environments, i guess i'm used to thinking of 1st or 3rd person video games as examples - linear exploration from a single roving viewpoint
strategy and some world building games are less linear
Sorry - I went way off on a tangent, but great post - more thoughts to come re linearity v simultaneity
"the unavoidable loss of energy in transfer from potential to kinetic" reminds me of this, my favorite gil kane quote:
"My expression, in its pure state, is abstract heat, light and energy. I have to impose structure on it to make comprehensible to others. However, its natural effect is sensory, not structured or intellectual."
from even a child's phenomenological perspective, the idea that manifest expression is innately an /imposition/ on itself is obvious, self evident. but, equally apparent: the expression is necessary for communicative purposes -- neural energy broken down into speech/motion/art like the way files are broken down to be sent thru da information superhighway, only to be reconstructed by a receiving body.
and so it is with linearity! it is overwhelmingly the most comfortable experiential mode for the human - inasmuch as it most easily distributes experience across bodies - but the cost of that convenience is the reduction of accuracy/quality/data.
the nature of the gestalt-as-first-step-in-a-linearity is so appealing because we are so familiar with this imposition of structure (and there is an innate neurological reward in construction).
can we even perceive the gestalt as it stands alone, as flooded as we are by past (and future!!!) experiences? its like with qualia, how a-thing-in-itself is totally ineffable and imperceptible until, like the proverbial marble slab, we hammer away at it with "meaning" until it resembles something we can define
i bet this has been said a million times on this blog, but it is important to recognize representation itself as a form of violence
Yes - representation expresses potentiality in a way that limits it, maps it.
Nice Gil Kane quote - thinking about it in terms of his expressive inking (or that of Moebius). Story is a way to view raw self-expression linearly. But sometimes it can seem too precious. The most organic example I can think of of that is Austin's work.
the gestalt (book-as-object) is über-gestalt - at the same time an overarching framing device and an entry point.
I meant Austin's work is organic as opposed to precious.
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