Category Archives: Philosophy

The Other Side of the Wheel

Posted on by
1

As you might have guessed from the previous post, my rhythm of life got a bit shaky this summer. After all the events of July and August I spent a few weeks collecting myself and preparing for this year. Things are now settling down a bit as the new season at PUSH is warming up.

I just checked my calendar from last year and today, September 23, 2008, it is exactly one year to the day since I arrived in Rochester. I’ve changed a lot.

I just went back and re-read my posts from last September to now. Time capsule journeys always seem to highlight major themes and guess what? (Cliche!) This one was no different.

There’s a lot personal reflection I do in public – which is a habit formed through a variety of circumstances – and I won’t saddle the world with it just now. What I do want to leave with you is a thought that emerged from this reflection:

A wheel is essentially two circles: a hub and an edge. One cannot function without the other and the two must be connected. The hub supplies the power and the edge applies the power to the road.

While you can turn an edge and move the wheel, it is much harder to control and sustain. Working the circles from the inside out makes the whole machine more efficient.

If I had to pick a major theme from my look back, it would be discovering the process of aligning the wheel properly. I am reminded of C.S. Lewis’ words “Further up, further in!” in The Last Battle. The wheel is more like a wheel than it was before. And it will continue to refine and become more like a wheel the more I try to keep those two circles working together.

Metaphors are wonderful things.

A Thinking Series… Part 1

Posted on by
1

I want to try an experiment with an extended thought. This post will be broken into several parts because of its length. Part 1 is mainly concerned with laying the groundwork arguments for my main focus. I haven’t finished the draft process yet so I don’t know how many posts this will take up. Part 2 is done so I’ll put that up in a few days. I may alter some things if good comments are raised about what goes up.

Introduction
I want to toss up a draft of some thoughts I’m working on. I recently read a book called Planet Narnia by Dr Michael Ward, which I highly recommend. The book dealt with a theory on a hidden, but central, theme embedded in C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia – the use of medieval astrological bodies in the creation of the individual stories.

I won’t go into detail about that theory. If you want more, read the book. It’s great. What I am after is a particular concept that Dr. Ward clarified in the opening arguments for his theory. The concept was described from one of C.S. Lewis’ writings on his own creative process. Lewis took the image of a dark shed with a beam of light shining in through a gap above the door and gave two methods of artistic engagement.

The first method Lewis called ‘looking at the beam’ which Dr Ward labels more succinctly as ‘contemplative’ engagement. ‘Contemplation’ regards the idea of the audience (reader in Lewis’ case) looking at the artistic creation as an object. The audience sees the beam of light and engages it as a beam of light.

The second method described by Lewis is what concerns me, primarily. ‘Looking along the beam’ is further streamlined by Dr Ward as ‘donegality’ – this word refers to a particular beach in England for reasons found in the book. ‘Donegality’ or ‘looking along the beam’ takes the audience inside the ray of light so he can see the landscape behind the gap in the doorframe. This takes the focus from the light itself (which is now invisible to the audience) and places the focus on a completely separate object, the landscape.

The Translation
The ‘contemplative’ thought will occupy the conscious mind for the main part. This is where the audience will say, “Oh! I get it, he’s running!” or “I see, she is jealous.” The contemplative moments are mathematical, they feed into one another to produce a result. This is the forward action of a scene or play: the plot.

The ‘donegal’ aspect is harder to define. I re-wrote a post from several months ago as a poem in an attempt to describe this:

The Ocean Flies

The sky flattens out to meet the trees
The rain falls hard enough to hear
Thunderous joy as drops find bliss

Hurricane unwound, blind and toothless
Descending, only searching for a bed
Titanic breeze adrift on a sea of land

Colossus of clouds, waning, still immense
This storm brings the ocean,
On wings of warm winds

My feet drown in flooded grass
I face the single cloud that covers the sky
Taste salt far from its home, miles away.

Art fails in every way
A thing is too much to capture
I cannot pin the sky, nor corner a cloud

Although still I try… am compelled!
The deluge pervades, pressing
What cannot be held

There are stories to tell,
Emotions to evoke,
Always Experience beckons
With a stronger cord.

So ‘donegality’ is the created frame through which a work of art is viewed. It is also the channel which controls the general trend of audience response. In this poem, word choice and structure are some of my donegal elements. Making the transition to the stage requires that we find the corresponding elements between the two art forms.

———To Be Continued!———

Part 2 deals with some practical translation terms and how this idea takes shape in another medium.

By the way, Dr. Ward gets a huge send up for being personable (read: ‘cool’) enough to email me when I linked his book on my reading list. I made sure to link the book and his website this time.

Upcoming Posts

Posted on by

As I mentioned yesterday, I’ve had a lot of topics come up that I want to write about. In order to keep myself on task about cleaning those ideas up, I’m giving this little preview of upcoming topics.

All of these topics will be relating to the general theme of ‘what’s next?’, reflecting the general trends I see in culture and the arts.

The Themes (da-da-da-dum…)

  • US Politics
    Politics: One of the Big Three taboo subjects that are always talked about, I want to take a look at what we’re learning from the incredibly extended presidential race and some recent state elections as well. This post will end with a segment that ties very closely to my next topic…
  • Christian Cross
    Religion: Number two in the taboo category. In a similar vein to politics, I’m going to take a look at some of the general movements that are happening among my peers and in Christian leadership. There are some not-so-surprising-but-still-surprising ideas that are cropping up more and more. Specifically, I want to examine some of the things that relate Christianity to the changing of generations and cultural backlash.
  • Mime Face
    Art: Skipping to something a little less taboo, but no less awkward than the traditional third topic. There are couple things I want to relate that I’ve been learning/identifying for the past few months. Particularly in regard to how the transition from student to professional is taking place. Also, I want to mention a few points of a growing movement that is simmering behind the tatters of postmodernism.
  • Two-headed Turtle
    Bringing it all together: This is actually what is prompting the whole themed posting idea. I’ve been seeing some unifying themes between these various subjects lately. There is a lot that I want start to identify where these three things intersect and how they are reflecting a general change in culture and social interactions.

Whew. I think I just jumped in way over my head, but I’m determined to go out kicking.

One final note. None of the ideas I will be expressing are gospel truth to me (well, aside from THE Gospel). I not only welcome comments on all of the above topics, but I want to go ahead and ask for them. You’ll see why in my bit on politics.

Well, here’s hoping I finish these sometime before the Second Coming.

Crash! (There goes the master plan)

Posted on by
1

The Stage

CurtainsI was talking to a friend the other day, catching up and what not, when I said something off-hand that made me pause. I told this friend that I had turned my life upside down in the last month – which is true in a lot of ways:

I now go north to find large bodies of water. Rooms in my house are on top of each other rather than beside. I switched from being a director to a student. I put aside grand schemes of revolution for an attitude of acceptance and learning.

Off-hand comments, are of course most dangerous when they articulate the brewing, unconscious themes of life. I didn’t realize until that moment that I had upended a great many of the constants in my life. I simply thought I was entering into a new season, adding on to the old.

Addition is still occurring, I haven’t abandoned all the previous years of my life in one fell swoop. But what is happening is a sort of death and resurrection process.

The Process

A lot of what has been upended lately has been my particular struggle betweenNeed and Want. Let me elaborate.

While I think it is a great thing to be needed, I am finding that it is a greater thing to be wanted. Transitioning from one to the other is a somewhat traumatic experience, however.

Atlas FigurineNeed forces a person to play Atlas – to shoulder the world and balance it on your shoulders. I am used to being an Atlas, but not because I really wanted to. Some people enjoy maintaining things, but I like to see a further goal. The reason I have been so willing to play at Atlas was because I would always see the step beyond the status quo; the step where existence turns into purpose.

The trouble with playing at Atlas is that it is impossible. You are either carrying the world, or you aren’t. In becoming a central pillar in everything I did, I continually took out my ability to move forward. I became a juggling Atlas with lots of great things that were constantly falling apart if I removed myself from them.

It’s been a long process learning to recognize that trait and to move into a different role.

The Result(ing Process)

I have allowed myself to need a great many things: a sense of purpose, respect, community, etc. But what I have never allowed myself to want or to be wanted. If somebody wanted me, I very quickly altered that desire into a need -a.k.a. they needed me to fill a role.

What that does is crush any freedom that might be present. Everything is burden to be borne, not an opportunity to be seized. I become Atlas once again.

So, I have finally begun to make the switch. The first step was getting into something (and somewhere) that didn’t need me. I can contribute and play a part, but I can’t even begin the process of becoming Atlas because that role is already filled.

Withdrawing from a central role to a supporting one has allowed me to begin the process of working toward that next step. I can begin to manipulate the world as carried by Atlas. I can help get things straightened up, I can nudge the world from one place to the next, all sorts of things.

It’s counter-intuitive for me to think of a ‘mover and shaker’ in the world as someone with a light touch and small presence. I have assumed all my life that greatness requires the ability to enforce your will upon the world; that I had to have a grand vision and then hoist it above everything else in order to be seen.

The Counter-Atlas

Balance Beam LeapIt is a great freedom to be able to move without the weight of personal responsibility on my shoulders. This isn’t to say that I’m not responsible anymore, it’s just that my responsibilities are no longer things that are necessities. I can fulfill obligations and help push things along without the need to constantly re-balance the entire equation because I am part of the balance, not the fulcrum.

It’s complete reverse from the way I’ve worked for most of my life. It’s a freedom to move without the great burden of an entire system weighing down on my back.

The trick is taking that first leap of faith…

Glued Together on Common Ground

Posted on by
3

I just finished reading an excellent post by Chad Miller about the future of the arts. Chad and I have had many conversations regarding this subject before and I believe he has set the stage for some excellent thoughts on the subject.

The Cyclic Viewpoint

nautiluscutawayspiral.jpgChad takes a look at movements in the arts from a cyclical perspective. Specifically, he uses a ‘redemption cycle’ analogy that compares the philosophical underpinnings of art and culture to other cycles in man’s history. His view is that we are going to see a change in these areas that amounts to ‘putting the pieces back together’.

Adding to what Chad has already put forth, I would like to point out that the cycle he mentions is not without precedent. Although we are in a ‘postmodern’ world currently, similar views have been held by previous cultures – most notably the Romans. One has only to compare the mechanics behind ‘American Idol’ the gladiator arenas to see how similar our two civilizations are.

The fact that a thousand years separates the Roman existentialism from the modern version should clue us in to the fact that there must be a change following. Unfortunately for us, the change for the Romans was the decline of their civilization and the wild Middle Ages.

A Different Outcome

While I don’t think it is possible for a second period of the ‘Dark Ages’ to occur today, I do see the potential for our culture’s ruin. Again historical similarities point out the corollary between the Germanic tribes to the radical Islamists.

roman-coliseum_.jpgSo, what does this have to do with Chad’s ideas? Simple. Chad puts forth the option of redemption vs ruin. In a way unlike the Romans, we have the opportunity to put our ‘broken vase’ of postmodernism back together. This is not to say that we will recreate a classical ideal. However, we can create a new set of standards that address the shortcomings of postmodern assumptions.

The Challenge

Horizon FlareThe challenge I want to lay down is to forge ahead. The problems are too easily seen to be ignored, and postmodernism has given us an enormous boon for the next step: research.

We can view postmodernists’ work as a huge archive of experience and knowledge – they tried almost everything. Some of it worked, some didn’t but all of it can inform our construction of the next step. I don’t pretend to know what that next step will be, but I can say we have taken the preliminary steps toward this ‘fusion’ of postmodern discoveries.

The trick is to build that step one person at a time. Each individual, whether they are aware of their postmodern heritage or not, is capable of finding common ground – empathy if nothing else. My personal art form is built upon creating hybrid techniques, and I am not a singular example of cross-training.

So find that common ground. How can you glue people together?