The Forest: A Radical Symbology for the Awakening of New Media.
The self-loving culture surrounding specialized cultures inhibits creativity through patterns of entitlement and elitist attitudes. Specialists become gatekeepers of information, using rankism to maintain power. The accumulation of information has eclipsed true knowledge and communal openness. The problem manifests itself in the culture of fear and the loss of cultural narratives.
The restoration of genuine expression could come from hollistic attitudes that view art as a system for personal development and cultural exploration. Rebuilding cultural narratives requires modern sacraments. Sacraments allow us to connect the spiritual reality with our mundane lives, realizing the duality inherent in our existence. I propose a prophetic model based on rites of passage as a means for realizing the paradoxes of humanities.
By exploring the patterns within the symbology of ancient prophetic movements, and comparing their practices and thoughts with romantic writers, all of whom spoke to similar cultures of stagnation, I have adopted the forest as a radical symbol against trends in mass media. The forest stands for duality, princely virtue, transformation, arcane knowledge, and child-likeness. In essence, the forest is a symbol used when vision is intended to be realized, to invade reality. This is culturally relevant because of the shift from an attitude of searching to one of formation.
I. Introduction
II. The Culture of Stagnation
A. The Narcisism of New Media
1. The Proliferation of Esoterica
2. Patterns of Entitlement
3. Rankism and New Media Power Structures
B. Disdain for Creativity
1. Preference for Entertainment Over Fantasy and History
2. Preference of Comfort over Growth
3. Loss of Cultural Narrative
C. Cultures of Fear
1. Inadequate Exposure
2. Inadequate Language
3. The Suicide of Expression
III. Radical Symbology and the Awakening of Cultures
A. The Centrality of Symbology
1. Conceptions of Reality
2. Ethos
3. Community
B. Criteria for Symbols
1. Connecting the High and Low
2. Encapsulation
3. Unification
4. Universal Images and Cultural Formation
C. Restoration of Cultural Narratives
1. The Reunion of Generations
2. Reinforcement of the Supernatural
3. A Balance Between Individuality and Community
4. Voices of Compassion
D. Rituals of Compassion
1. Demonstration vs. Indoctrination
2. Hollistic Instruction
3. Restorative Symbols
E. Dwellings of the Supernatural
1. Dwellings of Law (Moses)
2. Dwellings of Spirit (David)
3. Dwellings of Royalty (Solomon)
4. Dwellings of Nature (Ezekiel's Forest) ]
IV. The Forest as a Radical Symbol of New Media
A. The Centrality of the Forest
B. Duality
1. Essential Human Nature
2. Innocence and Experience
3. Somebodies and Nobodies
4. Rewards of Humility
5. True Royalty
C. Romance
1. Realty and Fantasy
2. Love of History
3. Arcane Knowledge
4. The Journey
D. Patterns
1. Arcane Knowledge
2. The Copy vs. The Pattern
3. Creating According to the Vision
4. Initiation and Reception
5. Communities
6. Dwellings
V. Conclusion
1. The Purposes of New Media
2. Moving Towards Compassion
Current Draft:
I. Introduction
"The dignity of the artist lies in his duty of keeping awake the sense of wonder in the world. In this long vigil he often has to vary his methods of stimulation; but in this long vigil he is also himself striving against a continual tendency to sleep." - G.K. Chesterton
"That popular fable of the sot who was picked up dead-drunk in the street, carried to the duke's house, washed and dressed and laid in the duke's bed, and, on his waking, treated with all obsequious ceremony like the duke, and assured that he had been insane, owes its popularity to the fact that it symbolizes so well the state of man, who is in the world a sort of sot, but now and then wakes up, excersises his reason and finds himself a true prince." Ralph Waldo Emerson
Waking from self-absorbtion, new media finds itself on the verge of rediscovery. We have grown into our tools and techniques, until the point that they feel tight, almost suffocating. The stuffy opinions of many self-anointed media critics are such for one simple reason, we have so consumed ourselves with finding our voice that we have forgotten what we wanted to say. Fortunately, the solution to forgetfulness is simply remembering.
And remembering begins with this point: the craftsmen loves his craft because his heart is in it. When the heart is not engaged, new media quickly degenerates to either thin computer science or a quick and dirty design excersise. New media has become more of a test than an art, a chance to one-up the lesser intellects in a global race, in practice and in effect rather like the Cold War. Identity is tied to information rather than weapons, but all sides feel intimidated at sharing their power. And this brings me to the second fact in need of remembrance, that craft creates community. From the beadwork of Ketchawa tribes to the films which unite generations, the creations of a people brings a collective expression to their experiences. Historians often judge the merit of a work in its ability to encapsulate the broad experience of a time period. Self-absorbed and territorial attitudes rarely make marks on history without the use of force. Rather the self-sacrificing, the dignitarian, and the genuine leave treasures whose message time and experience merely amplify. Thus, we come upon the third distant thought that few, if any, have taken the time to remember: craft is transformative. Art is centrifugal, taking the divine inspiration within an individual and forcefully hurling it out into culture to form and transform, to connect life and to birth life.
These things constitute the puposes of new media: heart, community and transformation. The last one, because it is farthest from us currently, will be the one which I will attempt to explore. If new media specialists will awaken from the self-loving information culture, then new media will become an art form of transformative power. Transformation entails a shifting of value, pointing to the duality inherent in our human experience. Remembering the paradoxes of the creative process will restore true creativity to computer art.
For me, remembrance has taken the form of a single central symbol within my work which has grown to encapsulate a broader message relevant to our times. The forest represents transformation, duality, and child-likeness. The forest stands as a symbol engrained in Western hearts, a radical yet familiar image carrying centuries of signifigance. Reconnecting with the fable of the forest represents the continuing validity of our cultural narratives. Our society has begun to discard many things which were harmful to us, our racism, our empiralism etc. We have discarded things which were childish. But at the same time, we have forgotten what makes us most mature, and that is our paradoxical nature. The problem with the information culture is the preference of accumulation rather than gestation. Art is a two way process, recquiring both expression and listening. Acknowledging the duality of the human experience allows us to be knowledgable yet teachable, renowned yet obscure, content yet longing, and mature yet ever growing younger. The goal makes itself clear, to grow spontanesously, to stand firmly rooted, to understand ancient arcane knowledge, to stand within a community, to dwell in the forest.
II. The Culture of Stagnation
While I could discuss the outward appearances of new media, I have instead chosen to focus on the inner realities. Not merely the forms of new media are important, but the people who create them - the spirits behind the manifestations. Questions of how the current culture exists and maintains itself will occupy this first exploration. Concretely, the power structures within new media define what constitutes valid creation and thus limit the images produced within new media. Images produced set precedents for who will gain power in the future. In this way, the culture of stagnation within new media is self-maintaining.
Many self-maintaining systems exist within the world, urban centers, sand dunes, political movements. Therefore, an assertion must come to judge the value of the self-maintaining culture of new media. Firstly, one could claim that new media is a depraved culture, however, we could certainly site the good produced. Additionally, one could say that new media is confused and introverted, spiraling towards a vacuum devoid of meaning. But, this view is refuted simply by acknowledging that Judging from the narrow scope of most media explorations, one could simply say that the culture is stagnant. But stagnation, being the vaporous apparition it is, wafts away with a h1 breeze. So, we will dismantle this culture brick by brick, only to rebuild it to higher heights, a dwelling natural, communal, sublime.
The Narcisism of New Media
Technology has led to the inflation of language. New words bombard our lexicons, symbols representing new forms of knowledge. Thus, the words one can use represents the knowledge and the power one possesses.
People in western cultures, especially the United States, view themselves through the filter of their occupation. To be more specific, new media specialists view their worth in terms of their novelty or technical knowledge.
III. Radical Symbology and the Awakening of Cultures
IV. The Forest as a Radical Symbol of New Media
"Until the Spirit is poured down upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fertile field and the fertile field becomes a forest" Isaiah 32:15.
The Centrality of the Forest
Near the center of the human heart stands the forest-- ancient, expansive, ever-changing. Engrained within cultural narratives, the forest holds the rare position of a nearly absolute cultural expression. This position gives the forest the power to invade even the hardest systems of rienforcement, bringing us to remembrance of our fragile, transitory, brutal existence. The only option a human has when facing nature is either to regard fear as a challenge and shut off reality or regard fear as a friend and stand in amazement. To admit that we are vulnerable, to acknowledge the reality of our existence, brings us to a point of humility where we can finally appreciate things outside of ourselves.
The goal resides outside of the physical reality of the forest itself. Symbols point to alternate realities. If new media specialists will awaken from the self-loving information culture, then new media will become an art form of transformative power. New media itself will begin to point to alternate realities, a symbol of cultural transformation.
Duality
Oppressive patterns have reduced cultural narratives to the point of being ineffectual. Information elitists have replaced universal symbols with general pacifiers, anti-symbols which disrupt community. So few remember that stories exist that even fewer remember how to craft one. The value changes within narratives teach us the skill of concieving the possibility of transformation. Yet modern stories often gloss over positive or negative extremes. Values have been eroded to the point that value changes are not even imaginable. This loss of value has led to an increasingly homogenous society, a pluralism which denies the possibility of difference. Individuals face assimilation into a collective devoid of true connection. Fortunately for the individual, the trend loses heart easily. In the face of an individual laughing at stagnation the monster has no choice but to cower, cringe, and admit that the paradox of humanity limits its power. Though the beast once fed on the self-love and foolish consitency of lesser minds, it has forgotten the rough grissel at the core of the human spirit - the fact that humans are both mundane and divine.
Inherent in the dignity of the human experience is paradox. Without contradiction, beauty becomes decadence, wisdom cheap information. Leadership often succombs to this temptation first, as exhibited in the breakdown of the Roman senate, the lethargy of the Hebraic priesthood, and the excess of Castro. The need for true royality can only be fulfilled with individuals who realize the essential nature of human existence - who can see the possiblities within the masses. Without this foresight, we can no longer look on our fellow human beings with amazement. Without paradox, we can see no hope for the poor, no comfort for the dispossessed, and we can forsee no good thing coming out of Nazareth.
Within the forest, amazement brings about a dignity outside of our own will. Our recognition of our own smallness leads us to view others as larger. Adventure returns when we are able to view our fellow human beings with an air of amazement, enjoying both their divinely inspired gifts and their repulsive self-love. This appreciation involves not only a passionate fixation with humanity, but also a reverence for the depths of people which we rarely comprehend.
People have been taught not to fear the unkown. But many fear nothing except loss of comfort, and as such, fantasy never holds the weight needed to invade reality. It is a central need for humans to feel that they are not quite safe. C.S. Lewis pictures the allegorical Aslan as being "good, but not tame." Paul describes God as being both kind and severe. Perhaps only a divine love could comprehend this strange need for people to exist between safety and danger, between fantasy and reality. And as Ezekiel understood it, the forest was the divine example of the not quite so safe dwelling when he writes that Israel will "live securely in the wildest of places and sleep in the forest."
Romance
Yet the disturbance of reality serves a larger purpose, the downfall of safety a greater need, the need for romance. Here, I mean romance in the classic terminology - the marriage of reality with fantasy. Romantic tendencies, as discussed earlier, can lead to the need for constant approval. But at the same time, romance can propel individuals into realms of understanding and achievement which are worth treading the line between insanity and birlliance.
"If our life is ever really as beautiful as a fairy tale, we shall have to remember that all the beauty of a fairy-tale lies in this; that the prince has a wonder which stops just short of being fear"