It's just an ordinary sidewalk, but artist Julian Beever has transformed "the everyday" into the extraordinary.
You can view many of his other "3D" pavement drawings at http://users.skynet.be/J.Beever/pave.htm.
They range from cute...
...to creepy.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Pavement scenes
I want to share a picture of an ordinary sidewalk with you:
It's just an ordinary sidewalk, but artist Julian Beever has transformed "the everyday" into the extraordinary.
You can view many of his other "3D" pavement drawings at http://users.skynet.be/J.Beever/pave.htm.
They range from cute...
...to creepy.
It's just an ordinary sidewalk, but artist Julian Beever has transformed "the everyday" into the extraordinary.
You can view many of his other "3D" pavement drawings at http://users.skynet.be/J.Beever/pave.htm.
They range from cute...
...to creepy.
Monday, October 20, 2008
To catch a terrorist
I know this doesn't intersect "the everyday" as we've discussed it, but what would a blog be without a political statement or two?
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Where time does not exist
Having been approached with the question "How can we perceive the notion of time without our cultural constraints?" in one of our earlier class sessions, I feel the best way I can begin my answer is with a personal recollection:
Seven years ago, when I was a sophomore in high school, I was in an accident that put me in an unconscious state for nearly four whole days. During that period (which according to family was a near-death struggle for me), I became a part of something I will never forget: white silence. -That's it. No sparkling lights. No divine answers. No heavenly consciousness. Just white silence. And what's more, there was no notion of time. I simply was a part of the white silence when I awoke from my coma.
Now, seven years later, I look back to that experience and wonder two things: 1) Why is it that what I heard was silence, but what I saw was whiteness? - Wouldn't it be more logical for silence to be accompanied by blackness or some other indiscernible color? and 2) Would I have seen something beyond white silence - perhaps a tunnel of light or a doorway to heaven or even God Himself welcoming me into His kingdom - had my never waking from a coma been predetermined?
To resolve these wonderings (which I know to be held within a specific cultural context), I refer back to (and finally give an answer to) the posed question "How can we perceive the notion of time without our cultural constraints?"
The reason many people in the United States (and in many other parts of the world) are so deeply disturbed by the notion of death is that they attach their own particular concept of time to that inevitable fate. I think this explains the Christian need (as well as the Christian condemnation of Atheism) to portray only two real after-death scenarios: going to Heaven or going to Hell, because going to an eternity of nothing, where one has literally all the time in the (after)world to be aware of how bored he is, is more unimaginable than any hellfire damnation man could think of.
Perhaps, then, the only way to perceive the notion of time without our cultural constraints is to simply let go of time when it no longer becomes a relevant matter. After all, time does not exist when we are dead. Heck, it didn't even factor in when I was unconscious.
And amen for that!
Seven years ago, when I was a sophomore in high school, I was in an accident that put me in an unconscious state for nearly four whole days. During that period (which according to family was a near-death struggle for me), I became a part of something I will never forget: white silence. -That's it. No sparkling lights. No divine answers. No heavenly consciousness. Just white silence. And what's more, there was no notion of time. I simply was a part of the white silence when I awoke from my coma.
Now, seven years later, I look back to that experience and wonder two things: 1) Why is it that what I heard was silence, but what I saw was whiteness? - Wouldn't it be more logical for silence to be accompanied by blackness or some other indiscernible color? and 2) Would I have seen something beyond white silence - perhaps a tunnel of light or a doorway to heaven or even God Himself welcoming me into His kingdom - had my never waking from a coma been predetermined?
To resolve these wonderings (which I know to be held within a specific cultural context), I refer back to (and finally give an answer to) the posed question "How can we perceive the notion of time without our cultural constraints?"
The reason many people in the United States (and in many other parts of the world) are so deeply disturbed by the notion of death is that they attach their own particular concept of time to that inevitable fate. I think this explains the Christian need (as well as the Christian condemnation of Atheism) to portray only two real after-death scenarios: going to Heaven or going to Hell, because going to an eternity of nothing, where one has literally all the time in the (after)world to be aware of how bored he is, is more unimaginable than any hellfire damnation man could think of.
Perhaps, then, the only way to perceive the notion of time without our cultural constraints is to simply let go of time when it no longer becomes a relevant matter. After all, time does not exist when we are dead. Heck, it didn't even factor in when I was unconscious.
And amen for that!
Aptitude test according to Breton
I have to say right off the bat that Breton's writing, like Blanchot's, consists of the most convoluted, mind-wrenching syntax I've ever encountered. What's more frustrating is the fact that I understand - at least on a superficial level - the gist of what Breton is saying, but I cannot for the life of me seem to be able to figure out how to verbalize his concepts. For the sake of comfort, would anyone out there be willing to verify these sentiments?
That said, I'd like to zero in on the following quote from page 12 of Nadja:
"What matters is that the particular aptitudes my day-to-day life gradually reveals should not distract me from my search for a general aptitude which would be peculiar to me and which is not innate."
This is a wonderful proclamation of the necessary mindset for personal growth. Actually, it reminds me of a topic I'm currently studying in one of my other classes: the concept of what it takes to go from good to great. I don't think, according to Breton's statement, that it's enough to simply foster or even realize one's potential. People should look inside themselves for a talent that transcends their inherent abilities, and allows them to go beyond the "day-to-day" in pursuit of a deeper and more meaningful development. Furthermore, Breton hints at the need for an internal and conscious revolt against personal mediocrity in his comment about the "search for a general aptitude which would be peculiar ... [and] ... not innate."
That said, I'd like to zero in on the following quote from page 12 of Nadja:
"What matters is that the particular aptitudes my day-to-day life gradually reveals should not distract me from my search for a general aptitude which would be peculiar to me and which is not innate."
This is a wonderful proclamation of the necessary mindset for personal growth. Actually, it reminds me of a topic I'm currently studying in one of my other classes: the concept of what it takes to go from good to great. I don't think, according to Breton's statement, that it's enough to simply foster or even realize one's potential. People should look inside themselves for a talent that transcends their inherent abilities, and allows them to go beyond the "day-to-day" in pursuit of a deeper and more meaningful development. Furthermore, Breton hints at the need for an internal and conscious revolt against personal mediocrity in his comment about the "search for a general aptitude which would be peculiar ... [and] ... not innate."
Friday, October 17, 2008
Dissecting The Everyday
This is a truly loaded quote. I hardly know where to begin.
First and foremost, I think it would behoove me to give a nutshell assessment of the quoted text:
Based on the historical and philosophical context of this writing, I believe what is at the heart of this passage is a deeply intellectual commentary on the paradoxical nature of existence, and how we humans manifest its middle ground: ambiguity.
Second, I'll give a short paraphrase and/or interpretation of each of the selected sentences within this quoted passage (which starts on the upper-middle of page 35):
"Every individual carries in himself a set of reflections, of intentions, that is to say reticences, that commit him to an oblique existence."
[Every person has inner thoughts and motives that bound him to an uncertain existence.] -Actually, "an existence of suspicion" would be a more appropriate paraphrase, as Blanchot makes a correlative statement on "the suspect" and "the oblique" later on in the text.
"To be suspect is more serious than to be guilty (hence the seeking of confession)."
[People being suspicious is a far worse thing than people knowing without a doubt, because when there is no doubt regarding guilt or innocence, the suspected (and therefore the accused) have, at the very least, the instant gratification of closure, which through confession, automatically releases them from the constant torture of others' silent accusations - their suspicions - as these do not allow for definiteness of any kind.]
"The guilty party relates to the law to the extent that he manifestly does everything he must in order to be judged, that is, in order to be suppressed, brought back to the void of the empty point his self conceals."
[The guilty are bound to the law so long as their actions can be judged according to the law, and their consequences - or in this context, punishments - implemented for the purpose of deterring further offenses.]
"The suspect is that fleeting presence that does not allow recognition, and, through the part always held back that he figures forth, tends not only to interfere with, but to bring into accusation, the workings of the State."
A paradox exemplified, [the suspect is that person who does not encourage acknowledgment or accessibility due to his unreadable airs, yet displays a simultaneous desire to be open to judgment, which actively/ultimately brings into doubt both the function and application of the law].
In referring back to my nutshell assessment of the quoted text, it becomes clear that the "paradoxical nature of existence" is best reflected in Blanchot's closing statements regarding "the everyday":
"Hence the everyday must be thought of as the suspect (and the oblique) that always escapes the clear decision of the law, even when the law seeks, by suspicion, to track down every indeterminate manner of being: everyday indifference. (The suspect: any and everyone, guilty of not being able to be guilty.)"
Here - and only here - "the suspect" and "the guilty" are finally brought together as one embodiment of the stated "indeterminate manner of being," which, given the rest of the text, becomes superimposed against Blanchot's backdrop of suspicion as a personification of "the everyday".
First and foremost, I think it would behoove me to give a nutshell assessment of the quoted text:
Based on the historical and philosophical context of this writing, I believe what is at the heart of this passage is a deeply intellectual commentary on the paradoxical nature of existence, and how we humans manifest its middle ground: ambiguity.
Second, I'll give a short paraphrase and/or interpretation of each of the selected sentences within this quoted passage (which starts on the upper-middle of page 35):
"Every individual carries in himself a set of reflections, of intentions, that is to say reticences, that commit him to an oblique existence."
[Every person has inner thoughts and motives that bound him to an uncertain existence.] -Actually, "an existence of suspicion" would be a more appropriate paraphrase, as Blanchot makes a correlative statement on "the suspect" and "the oblique" later on in the text.
"To be suspect is more serious than to be guilty (hence the seeking of confession)."
[People being suspicious is a far worse thing than people knowing without a doubt, because when there is no doubt regarding guilt or innocence, the suspected (and therefore the accused) have, at the very least, the instant gratification of closure, which through confession, automatically releases them from the constant torture of others' silent accusations - their suspicions - as these do not allow for definiteness of any kind.]
"The guilty party relates to the law to the extent that he manifestly does everything he must in order to be judged, that is, in order to be suppressed, brought back to the void of the empty point his self conceals."
[The guilty are bound to the law so long as their actions can be judged according to the law, and their consequences - or in this context, punishments - implemented for the purpose of deterring further offenses.]
"The suspect is that fleeting presence that does not allow recognition, and, through the part always held back that he figures forth, tends not only to interfere with, but to bring into accusation, the workings of the State."
A paradox exemplified, [the suspect is that person who does not encourage acknowledgment or accessibility due to his unreadable airs, yet displays a simultaneous desire to be open to judgment, which actively/ultimately brings into doubt both the function and application of the law].
In referring back to my nutshell assessment of the quoted text, it becomes clear that the "paradoxical nature of existence" is best reflected in Blanchot's closing statements regarding "the everyday":
"Hence the everyday must be thought of as the suspect (and the oblique) that always escapes the clear decision of the law, even when the law seeks, by suspicion, to track down every indeterminate manner of being: everyday indifference. (The suspect: any and everyone, guilty of not being able to be guilty.)"
Here - and only here - "the suspect" and "the guilty" are finally brought together as one embodiment of the stated "indeterminate manner of being," which, given the rest of the text, becomes superimposed against Blanchot's backdrop of suspicion as a personification of "the everyday".
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Scavenge-hunting meets voyeurism... in Bothell
On second thought, we should've had Charles form the top of the pyramid, with us girls forming the base.
How 'bout that? I was the only girl in the group that couldn't do a cartwheel.
Should've asked him for a sample of his cooking.
Comment not actually intended, but sort of funny.
Was going to call this video clip "fake cock", but that didn't seem appropriate.
Here's the real cock - AHEM - I mean real rooster!
Couldn't for the life of me figure out how to use a digital effect.
Once again, could not use a digital effect.
All in all, this "video game" was an excellent follow-up to the "dérive" activity. I really got into the spirit of drifting. Also, Country Village was awesome. I didn't realize there was so much to see and do in Bothell!
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Liberties on the A-WALL
A provocative statement that intersects with Blanchot's concepts of revolution. The "I am free" directive really captures his reference to "moments of effervescence" in The Everyday.
A beautiful voice, a beautiful message
Came across this music video while surfing. Thought if a carrot man was worthy of posting, so is this.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
20 minutes with the Subaudible
My experience of doing nothing for 20 minutes was extremely uneventful (no pun intended). There were no reflections, thought streams, or delves into the realm of meditation and such. There was only one clear awareness of something Stephen King once referred to as "the Subaudible".
[The everyday noises (and I'm paraphrasing) of our busy lives - the floorboards creaking, the cables humming, the traffic passing nearby - are the same noises that make up the fibers of our very existence, painting a picture of who we are while simultaneously bringing us closer to God.]
Only when we move beyond this point of recognition (I'm adding/interpreting now) do the sounds become automatic and meaningless, drifting into a realm just below the audible where noises are heard but not fully registered.
The Subaudible.
[The everyday noises (and I'm paraphrasing) of our busy lives - the floorboards creaking, the cables humming, the traffic passing nearby - are the same noises that make up the fibers of our very existence, painting a picture of who we are while simultaneously bringing us closer to God.]
Only when we move beyond this point of recognition (I'm adding/interpreting now) do the sounds become automatic and meaningless, drifting into a realm just below the audible where noises are heard but not fully registered.
The Subaudible.
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