Walter Benjamin Art and Media

 

Gap

In the 1920's or 1930's Walter Benjamin's point about mechanically reproducible art was that it couldn't produce what he called Aura. Three things. In mechanically reproducible work there had to be a perceptual shift in the mind of the subject. What cannot be reproduced is the work of art's original presence in time and space. In his essay "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" Benjamin made note of what he called an optical unconscious, a subject's ability to desire physical objects, which is connected to an ability in us people to identify information by habit instead of minute inspection. Perceptual twist, an aura of authenticity, and the mental heuristic that permits assumption, all three might be popped into an envelope called Media Studies and then ruthlessly abused.

Another Shot at Endings

Drain Field

The case of Donahue and Stevenson, whether a Mrs. May Donahue was entitled to financial compensation when she found a snail in a bottle of ginger-beer, first went to court in Paisley, Scotland, in 1928 and it found a conclusion in the United Kingdom's House of Lords in 1932. Mrs. May Donahue was a shop assistant, she separated from her husband in 1932, she subsequently divorced and died in a mental hospital in 1958 when I was six years old. It's totally a ripping yarn. For some reason, and I accepted this years ago, a conclusion-driven-saga is not within my own capacity. Tragically I'm beginning to take joy in what I'll call conclusion-less-ness. It's a right royal f-you and a get over it to the answer merchants. I just don't care what six times six is. And if occasionally I forget the name of this or that political figure or the name of the cat sleeping on my belly, too bad. 

Just another Life

Milkweed

The Ouspensky Phenomenon supposes that if we teach ourselves to think about reality in a different way we can open our consciousness to the idea that oneness is interconnected with many-ness. His Fourth Way combined the way of the physical body, the way of the emotions and the way of the mind. These are the three proud heritages of the Fakir, the Monk and the Yogi. Ouspensky placed his Fourth Way into the the midst of ordinary everyday life. He didn't seek a separation from the world in order to follow the Fourth Way instead he gave the Fourth Way a dimension, a mathematical quality within the context of his understanding of the four dimensions within consciousness. Here it's frightfully useful to accept that the esoteric as a mindset is communicated Symbolically. What does that mean. For some it means proper training within a culture that includes heavy doses of peer pressure that allows us to gain a familiarity with the language of Symbols. Others, such as Saint Teresa of Avila and Doctor of the Catholic Church, prefer the nine phases of prayer that permit direct and wordless communication with God on judgement day. Others like the black and white of manuals. It's a cozy snuggle between the Active Life and the Contemplative Life Hannah Arendt sought an understanding of. The decent thing about Ouspensky, as he approached his end time, he was able to realize the path he'd chosen was a long, arduous, complex, mostly torturous and possibly a wasted one. Money helped, here our man was comfortably situated but the equation of his that had required four dimensions of consciousness couldn't maintain an integrity and like an intriguing quantum observation it collapsed.  

The Ouspensky Phenomenon

 

Path of Righteousness

The Ouspensky Phenomenon could be defined as a socially affordable Snake Oil. It might be inaccurate to call it an example of myth and politics unless it was an economy and I was a politician. Then I could confidently declare the fundamentals of Snake Oil alive and well in the Ouspensky Phenomenon. The issue of course that challenges language is a definition of the Ouspensky Phenomenon. What is it? Of the facets available to think about, two jump up and down quite loudly. The first is the Far East, somewhere beyond the Muslim frontier, some new flavor of Cool Aid had started entering fashion in the West when the Magi introduced themselves to Mary. The second facet is this. Ouspensky's second book found it's way to the United States where it was discovered by an American Archaeologist who'd found in it a theme for one of his buildings, he translated Ouspensky's second book into English and published it. The book sold well, years later when Ouspensky discovered a reputation waiting for him he was able to recoup a suggestion of his royalties. Of the two, start with the Magi.