Existential Friday: Hoo Are You?
Hoo are You?
The trees are blue
The sky is square.
Hoo Hoo, Oh who are you ?
The pebbles are soft
The corn swims
With the B.
There is a shoe
In the ocean
And a giraffe on the sea.
Who Oh Hoo are U trying two B?
The stars are green
The sea is stone.
Have you a song?
Are you alone ?
Hoo-hoo are you today ?
Watch the fish fly away.
Hoo Oh Hoo , where have you gone ?
The moon is singing
All day long.
The sun is dancing
The owl is two.
So Hoo who Hoo are you ?
Existential Friday: A Different Perspective
This Existential Friday we have a look at perception and eyes. The opening image is an experiment in colour . texture, and symbolism. The central object is a God’s Eye. Elizabeth had her students making a variety of First Nation Cultural objects, including God’s Eye and Dream Catchers. The Ojo de Dios, or God’s Eye, is a simple or complex weaving made across two or more sticks. A God’s eye is a yarn weaving and a Huichol spiritual object.
The Ojo de Dios or God’s eye is a ritual tool, magical object,. It is related in concept to the Dream Catcher. For the Huichol peoples of western Mexico, the God’s Eye is symbolic of the power of seeing and understanding that which is unknown and unknowable, The Mystery. The four points represent the elemental processes earth, fire, air, and water. The Huichol call their God’s eyes Sikuli, which means “the power to see and understand things unknown.
My visual interpretation of this object takes the object further into the realm of dream and the unconscious. The metal clip grasping onto the God Eye can have several interpretations. It is a man made industrial object used primarily in relationship to material wants and needs. It is for the observer to reflect on the relationship that the image evokes.
The world of dreams and our understanding of perception can lead us to question ourselves, our values, beliefs, & ideologies. What is real ? What is true ? Cultures far older than the current dominant North American/Western culture of commerce and manufacturing valued and understood the power of dreaming to widen human experience. Contemporary North American culture tries to harness dreams to provide escapist entertainment and to sell material goods. We are awash in dreams that do not feed the spirit, only increase an appetite that is never satisfied.
In Native American culture, a dream catcher;( Lakota: iháŋbla gmunka, Ojibwe: asabikeshiinh, the inanimate form of the word for “spider”[1][2] or Ojibwe: bawaajige nagwaagan meaning “dream snare”) is a handmade object based on a willow hoop, on which is woven a loose net or web. The Dream Catcher allowed the good dreams to pass through and the bad dreams to be ensnared in the spider web, where the light of day would burn them away.
North American culture has turned this around. Society has been ensnared in a world of manufactured dreams. The burning light of social debt and personal dissatisfaction only feeds the appetite for more something, anything that will ease our stress or suggest there is an answer. Maybe if we hang a Dream Catcher, or Tibetan Mandala, or an organic herbal garden pot – “ON SALE NOW” – in the window our lives will be better, or not.
Note that many First Nation People find the commercialization of Dream catchers and The God Eye a further corruption of their values. Are we “Living the Dream” or are we being consumed by a manufactured nightmare ?
Existential Friday: Duelling Philosophers
I have mentioned in a few of my posts about my background and current work as a secondary school teacher. Teaching can put a person in a box. Depending on where and what you subjects you are required to communicate ( you teach students, not subjects), it can be difficult exercise flexibility both in content & methodology. The most effective teaching requires an opportunity to create and innovate. You need to adapt to the students and the situation. Teachers try to nurture and take advantage of the teachable moment. That is when the student is sparked with curiosity and the desire to know, understand, and apply.
In my capacity of my final year as a teacher before retiring, I have a range of students and subjects. These students are acquiring courses through what is called, an Assisted Study Program (ASP). They are working independently on different subjects at different levels. A small group, spread over several periods are doing an introduction to Philosophy course. This is very challenging in a regular classroom setting, independently takes the work to another level. It leaves them with lots of reading and writing, but little back and forth discussion.
The challenge for me, is to provide instruction on a one to one basis, when required, and to make sure that there is a variety of assignments. One weekly essay after another will have their brains leaking out their ears. I have to mix it up. What I came up for one lesson was debate. Instead of your typical debate, this debate of duelling philosophers would be done in the form of a rap. The following is an example of what one of the students produced. ( Images provided by myself for this post.)
Aquinas: St. Thomas Aquinas here to rap,
I’m just gunna give ya a little recap.
The five proofs of God yo,
They outshine anything you’ve learnt in bio.
The first proof begins with motion (motion, motion),
It can be compared to the domino (domino, domino) effect yo,
Where one thing in motion is moved by something (something, something) else,
Like the fire that started from the log of wood (wood, wood).
But the sequence can not go forever,
Because there ain’t no explanation for the first mover,
This right here is where God comes in,
Using his powers to be moved by nothing else.
Sartre: Nah bro you’re totally wrong, We are wholly responsible of our own belong There ain’t no such thing as this God man None of our actions originate from a plan
Instead, humans believe in this thing called intentions (intentions, intentions) Where everything we do is on purpose (purpose, purpose) And there ain’t no such thing (no such thing, no such thing) as an accident Rather the idea that we deserve (deserve, deserve) everything that happens
Aquinas: Well lemme explain to you,
The second proof which will stick with you like glue,
It’s called an efficient cause yo
Where one item is the cause of the next item ya know
But what if the causes stretch all the way back? (back, back)
There will be no first (no first, no first) efficient cause
Without the wonderful thing everyone calls God (God, god)
So you better believe (better believe, better believe) its him who makes the first cause
Sartre: The causes don’t need to stretch back, Everyone is to blame for their own track, Because they make intentional choices With or without the help of any inspirational voices
Aquinas: The third and fourth proofs,
There’s no possible way that they can be spoofs
The third proof, God is accountable for necessity (necessity, necessity)
And in the fourth he is the cause of goodness (goodness, goodness) and perfection
Sartre: Both necessity and goodness come from people (people, people) themselves
God does not play a part in our lives (no part, no part)
Every cause can be traced back to us (us, us)
We never encounter anything except responsibility (responsibility, responsibility)
There is no such thing as compulsion,
It is only you who caused the most recent explosion
Everything is a matter of choice,
Like whether you’ll date that girl named Joyce.
It’s all up to you,
Do not try to blame it on little boy blue.
Or your friend named Drew,
Or even the fact that you had the flu.
Aquinas: I have to disagree with you Sartre, (disagree)
Many things in life wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for God (weren’t for God, weren’t for God)
The fifth idea proves this exactly, (fifth proof, fifth proof)
It states that intelligence is the workings of God (intelligence, intelligence)
God directs our goals,
Watching every one of our souls
And being in charge of every “first”,
So don’t try to argue or you’ll be cursed.
Note ; Students had a selection of topics and subjects to choose from based on the material provided in the lesson. The readings are quite dense, though brief. They dip their toes into the history and related concepts. This assignment was challenging in form and content. It allows them to be both creative and analytical. Hopefully it was fun and didn’t make their brains run too much.
To learn more about philosophy you may wish to read Action Philosophers! by Evil Twin Comics.
Free PDF downloads are available:
UPDATE: For those who arrive at this blog & this post for first, make sure to see the impact it has had both online and in the “very real world of my classroom”. Angelika Award I’m Honored by Angelika Award
Existential Friday: MEMENTO MORI & The Fruit of Knowledge
There is much discussion in some circles as to The Fruit of Knowledge. First is the meaning of the term itself and how it is translated. Is it knowledge of the difference between the two – Good & Evil ? Is it knowledge of the will to do evil.? Does it really mean the Knowledge of All Things ? Is it a state beyond Innocence or a state of Free Will ? Could it be a metaphor to describe some form of level of consciousness and awareness ?
Of course we can then get into a more literal discussion of the type of fruit/food we are talking about: fig, wheat, bread, grapes, wine, pomegranate, prickly pear,or apple. Perhaps it was an orange ? In my much younger days, when I had both the time and inclination, I would devour books like peanuts. Actually it was books, magazines, comic-books, and newspapers. Along the way in my search for ancient history, fantasy, folklore,mythology, ghost stories, and heroic adventure I discovered the works of Lord Dunsany. ( As you see, I was fated to become an Eng. Lit major and English teacher – with a less than typical range of literary genres.)
One of Lord Dunsany’s short pieces that I was particularly fond of is DEATH AND THE ORANGE. I used it introduce students to allegory and parable, as well as the twist ironic ending. So without further ado, here it is.
DEATH AND THE ORANGE
Two dark young men in a foreign southern land sat at a restaurant table with one woman.
And on the woman’s plate was a small orange which had an evil laughter in its heart.
And both of the men would be looking at the woman all the time, and they ate little and they drank much.
And the woman was smiling equally at each.
Then the small orange that had the laughter in its heart rolled slowly off the plate on to the floor. And the dark young men both sought for it at once, and they met suddenly beneath the table, and soon they were speaking swift words to one another, and a horror and an impotence came over the Reason of each as she sat helpless at the back of the mind, and the heart of the orange laughed and the woman went on smiling; and Death, who was sitting at another table, tête-à-tête with an old man, rose and came over to listen to the quarrel.
Existential Friday: MEMENTO MORI & The Shadow
Click image to see enlargement to see all three faces clearly.
Once again dear readers we bring you another Existential Friday. This week’s episode entitled, Memento Mori & The Shadow is brought to by Synchronicity and Memories of Childhood. This week’s episode begins as usual with your host, messing about on his computer with a variety of photographs, textures, and cascade of ideas & multiple associations. From Antique Angels came a bit of a surprise. An image that resembled the Angel of Death sort of, um a little, well a bit of stretch. Potential was there, but it required work .
Your host began considering what to call, what could possibly be a series of images. How about Memento Mori – a Latin phrase translated as “Remember your mortality”. Well this blog content stuff can consume you and sometimes you take a break and visit your fellow bloggers to see their latest endeavors . So off your host went to see Syncopated Eyeball and the newest post waiting to greet him was, Drive Safely filed under, ….. Memento Mori. Hello Synchronicity!
Now, this sign from the digital universal unconsciousness gave me encouragement that the idea wasn’t dead before it started, but something was missing. Well it just so happened that there was an announcement this week and some advertising to stir up buzz for the new comic version of that great Pulp Magazine and Golden Age Radio man of mystery, The Shadow. Dynamite Comics were launching a new series of The Shadow.
Now for those of you who are too young or poorly informed on certain areas of Mass Media cultural history, There is no fictional character to better convey the concept of Memento Mori and a sense of existential choice than The Shadow.
As to our other sponsor, Memories of Childhood, I had the fortune of having slightly older parents than most of my peers. They told me about the growing up in the Golden Age of Radio, when the theatre of the mind was home & family entertainment. I knew all about The Shadow, Lights Out and the Martian Invasion and when in the mid-1960′s there was a revival broadcast of sorts of the old radio dramas I was ready.
Note: There may be more than three face in my piece, if so they are further signs of synchronicity or The Shadow.
For more information about Pulp Magazines , The Shadow, and Mass Media cultural history see my post Superheroes Part 1:”It’s A Bird… It’s A Plane… It’s A Target Audience !” from Media Literacy blog and my Pulp Heroes Resource Page for Media Literacy Students.
For other explorations of Pulp Magazines on this blog just click the pulp link in the cloud tag. You may wish to start with, Doc WordPress vs. The Phantom Referrers ! .
Existential Friday: Water Lilies & Riddles
For this week’s Existential Friday a bit of Buddhism, Taoism, water lilies, sky, and riddle (koan). Consider the possibilities.
In Taoism, attaining a state of emptiness is viewed as a state of stillness and placidity which is the “mirror of the universe” and the “pure mind”. The Tao Te Ching claims that emptiness is related to the “Tao, the Great Principle, the Creator and Sustainer of everything in the universe”.
Emptiness as a human condition is a sense of generalized boredom, social alienation and apathy. Feelings of emptiness often accompany dysthymia,depression, loneliness, despair, or other mental/emotional disorders such as borderline personality disorder. A sense of emptiness is also part of a natural process of grief. However, the particular meanings of “emptiness” vary with the particular context and the religious or cultural tradition in which it is used.
In Buddhist philosophy, attaining a realization of emptiness of inherent existence is key to the permanent cessation of suffering, i.e. liberation.
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Even while an ordinary being, if upon hearing of emptiness great joy arises within again and again, the eyes moisten with tears of great joy, and the hairs of the body stand on end, such a person has the seed of the mind of a complete Buddha; He is a vessel for teachings on thatness, and ultimate truth should be taught to him. After that, good qualities will grow in him. |
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—Chandrakirti, Guide to the Middle Way, vv. 6:4-5 |
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For real Buddhist koans see:The Gateless Gate & Zen Koan
Remember to click image to see larger versions. Is that a koan ?
In my hand ?
No it is a waffle. ……… I can not decide.
Existential Friday: Daguerre Upon the Stair
Yesterday, upon the stair,
I met a man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
I wish, I wish he’d go away…
“Antigonish“- by American educator – poet Hughes Mearns
This week’s Existential Friday brings together photography, poetry, philosophy, quantum physics, history, Buster Keaton, masks, toys, and puppets. This post is of course linked to the first Existential Friday post in that it looks at the question of the gaze and perception. When we look upon something does that make it real ? For a photographer composing a shot/constructing a media-realiy, this question has added significance. For the quantum physicist , it brings to mind Schrödinger’s cat; the cat that is both dead and alive based on perception of the event.
If we are “perceived” by a machine, say a security camera that automatically records our image, but no one views the recording, does the recording exist ? If we look at a photograph of an event, say our parents’ wedding does hat perception of the image make the event more real ? Then of course we may be looking at a manipulated image, does that perception make the manipulated reality more real ?
If our reality depends on being perceived, can we escape perception ? Orwellian issues of freedom suddenly turn into metaphysical questions of reality and existence.
When I came home last night at three
The man was waiting there for me
But when I looked around the hall
I couldn’t see him there at all!
Go away, go away, don’t you come back any more!
Go away, go away, and please don’t slam the door… (SLAM!)
Consider the ideas of George Berkeley (March 1685 – 14 January 1753), also known as Bishop Berkeley (Bishop of Cloyne). He was an Anglo-Irish philosopher whose primary achievement was the advancement of a theory he called “immaterialism” (later referred to as “subjective idealism” by others). This theory denies the existence of material substance and instead contends that familiar objects like tables and chairs are only ideas in the minds of perceivers, and as a result cannot exist without being perceived. Thus, as Berkeley famously put it, for physical objects “esse est percipi” (“to be is to be perceived”).
In Samuel Beckett’s Film (1965), Buster Keaton attempts to evade observation by an all-seeing eye. But, as the film is based around Bishop Berkeley’s principle ‘esse est percipi’ (to be is to be perceived), Keaton’s very existence conspires against his efforts. View -Film by Samuel Beckett.
Now for one last flying leap of logic. Let us take the imitation/synthetic perception one step further. What if the imitation of the perceiver was a photograph, a mask or a puppet/toy ? We perceive the imitation that appears to be looking at us. Is that how we convince ourselves that we are real when no one else is around ? Or does it ensure that we are real ?
Last night I saw upon the stair
A little man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
Oh, how I wish he’d go away
Note for those less interested in my ramble through philosophical paranoia and more interested in the photography side of things: The puppet on the stair that started this twisted thought process is one of many puppets made by my wife. The toys are my daughter’s. That scary eye shot is of my son’s allergy blood-shot zapped eye. He suggested I take a close up and see what I could do with it, besides the puns. The final eye shot is from the Samuel Beckett Film. The Daguerre reference is to the daguerreotype style frame & effect that I used with several of the images. Enjoy the weekend !
Existential Friday
Welcome to my first Existential Friday post. I have no idea if there will be any more Existential Friday posts, but then that goes along with the whole existentialism question. For those with a less philosophical bent or are less philosophically bent out of shape, consider this a Northern Ontario Gothic-Noir Mystery/Ghost story (prose poem). The clues are all visual and the solution will be found in one’s personal sense of place/perplexity. The first two clues can be found on the office floor. A rather messy personal office, full of scattered memories and random connections of obscure insights into the human soul/poor organizational skills ( it’s a guy thing).
Files full of important points or impotent proclamations ? Who can tell where this trail will lead ? We pick away at the bread crumbs trying to accumulate enough evidence to establish proof. We discard the seemingly inconsequential, convinced we have some glimpse of the answer.
As we prepare to toss out the unnecessary pieces and assemble this puzzle, we are haunted by a nagging suspicion that we missed something. It stares us in the face, but we can not make out the features. Is it a shadow or a reflection ? Is this a ghost from the past or a phantom of the future hanging on the hazy horizon ? We wait for a knock on the door, a voice calling from the stairwell. Everything would be oka,y if the jumbled notes would just remain in one place, even if it is on the floor.
Foot Note to a Mystery: What is it about this photograph that makes you feel uncomfortable? (Jean Paul Sartre and the human gaze)
Production Note: As with many of my photo-manipulations, I used texture layers that I have been messing about with . The first two office mystery images shared variations of the same texture in at least one of their multiple layers. The original texture was also used to create a new texture that I used in the Existential Face. The original photo was of a clay sculpture my son had made as part of a art project at college.
So that you do not suffer total existential angst after my little Northern Ontario Gothic-Noir Mystery/Ghost story (prose poem), I offer you a copy of the texture used in creating the Face. Feel free to see what you can create with it, either as is or in a modified form, just let me know the results so we can share some posts of where this piece of existential imagery takes us. Thanks & Enjoy the Day !
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