It's all about the senses and empathy.
- I can sun feel on my skin - but it does not touch me
- I can feel music in my bones - but it does not touch me
- I can smell a storm coming - but it does not touch me ('till it rains)
- I can see colors - but they don't touch me
(Ok . . . scientifically we can argue for radiation, vibration of particles in the air and stuff like that but I'm trying to be poetic here so don't spoil it.)
I can shoot pictures with my digital camera - but the image has never touched the object (it's just a translation, not an imprint)
I can "chat" all I want - without body language, intonation, or sight.
There is distance there that I can't control or overcome.Direct interaction is important to me and now I find myself in a world full of distance and intangible possessions and interactions.
Here's few:
- Diary = blog
- Sketchbook = Photoshop
- Photo Album = Snapfish
- Slide show = Powerpoint
- Books = ebook
- letters = email
- record = Mp3
- Newspaper = MSNBC etc.
Crowds of people all in there own little worlds isolated - but not
I can connect myself to the four corners of the earth (funny, it being round and all) and still walk and chew gum at the same time. (or drive and drink a coolatta at the same time:)
I'm not so sure how I feel about this technological omnipresence thing. Suddenly my sense of self is located in all different places.
Here's an old question: Am I my physical body or the sum of all my cognitive connections and mediated translations?
- Do I really need to be connected to everyone and everything? -No
- Does it really matter if I know everything that is going on all over the world? -No
- Do I really need to know who's winning on America Idol? -No
- Will the world still carry on without me if I shut my cell phone off for a day? -Yes
So why do we get so disjointed when we are disconnected?
Maybe it's because we aren't really connected so we keep logging-in, tunning-in, and calling-in hoping for something more tangible but we sign-off, click-off and hang-up feeling unsatisfied by what was received.
Just blatantly mediated and translated brushes with the world.
More later
1 comment:
Coe!! How have you been lady!?! :) So happy to see some new work of yours! I can't wait to see some of your projected work on vellum - looks brilliant so far!
p.s. Everything you wrote about here has been permanently burning in my thoughts for the past 6 months or so... it's an interesting dilemma that seems to have received a lot of attention as of late... and will surely continue to expand.
Would love to hear from you when you have time!
:) Cyn
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