Robbie Burger

Today's Question: What am I other than this that I know I am not?

4/12/08

ART, The first language

Jrrrrrr, leans back against the warmed wall of his cave. The fire gutters in the mouth of the cave throwing his shadow, wildly dancing beyond the rising smoke.
Belly full, content.
In his right hand he is still grasping a bony remnant of his porcine meal. He feels that numbing euphoria that precludes dreamland sweep across his closed eyelids.
Suddenly a knot in the log on the fire explodes with a loud pop.
Jrrrrrr, is propelled to full alert in an instant. His eyes focus on the bone in his clenched fist. It looks like the face of an old enemy. Jrrrrrr casts his glance around to get his bearings and once assured that all is well he examines the bone where he saw the face appear as he woke.
He gropes in the crude leather pouch at his waist for a chunk of flint, one of his most prized possessions.
He begins to scrape at the bone with the flint attempting to free the soul he sees imprisoned therein.

Thus goes the story of the earliest of artists. Within Jrrrrrr lies the same impulse to create that lies within each of us. That impulse is older than words.
I believe that creative impulse constitutes the motivation for all forms of communication and that artistic endeavors represent the most intimately effective and inclusive form of such communication.

4/2/08

Data is not the only constituent of Information.

Information is not the only constituent of Knowledge.

Knowledge is not the only constituent of Wisdom.

Wisdom is the only constituent of Enlightenment.

autism – a group of disorders resulting in varying degrees of developmental delay and impairment particularly in social interactions and communication

Main Entry:

au·tism

Pronunciation:

\?o?-?ti-z?m\

Function:

noun

Date:

1948

: a variable developmental disorder that appears by age three and is characterized by impairment of the ability to form normal social relationships, by impairment of the ability to communicate with others, and by stereotyped behavior patterns

— au·tis·tic \o?-?tis-tik\ adjective or noun

— au·tis·ti·cal·ly \-ti-k(?-)l?\ adverb

¨ From the above definition ala Webster we can conclude that most of us suffer to various extents from autism. Having dealt with autistic adults in an academic environment I have become aware that autism is not a disease but a condition that afflicts most of us to varying degrees. In the vast majority of the population it is mild and only manifests in daily parlance as a feeling that there is a division between what each of us perceives as ourselves and the rest of the world. The inescapable conviction that somehow we are all individually isolated from everything else permeates our thoughts and values. However, there is no point that can be isolated by science or by intellect that delineates such a division. Indeed we are all the result of paradigmatic phenomena that are assumed to be universal. Intellectually we must conclude that we are all related in that respect and that somehow the stuff of which we are composed is the same stuff as that of the rest of the universe, There is a linguistic component of autism inherent in the linear structure of most modern languages that exacerbates our apparent inability to recognize our relatedness to the rest of the universe. Commonly we rely upon a plethora of imaginary divisions in order to deal with perceived reality. These divisions exist in our language which are then adopted as components of a working model of our world. The fact that this bifurcation cannot rationally be isolated does little to deter us from assuming that such divisions are accurate and necessary for a true approximation (through language) of our world. One problem that arises from this linguistic flaw is the necessity in many cases to assume there are differences of kind when, in reality, there are only differences of degree in that which we perceive. As an example let us examine the differences between a photograph of a locomotive and a pattern on paper of colors blended by a watercolorist whose interest is merely to create a pleasant blend of color and visual texture. In this case the assumption is that the image of the locomotive is concrete, whereas the watercolor is not depicting anything "real" and is, therefore abstract. In reality both graphics in this example are abstractions. The locomotive is a large, three dimensional machine made of metal. The photograph is a two dimensional depiction made of paper and ink and almost always much smaller that the engine. Therefore the photograph can be said to be an abstraction from the actual engine. The watercolor design is the result of visualization by the artist and is also an abstraction. We quickly accept the watercolor as abstract, but when we look at the photograph of the locomotive we identify the graphical depiction of the locomotive as a "locomotive." Show a photograph of a common object to a child and the child will identify the depiction as the object itself. We accept that because we are only interested in the child's recognition of the linguistic relationship between the depicted object and the depiction. Also, we probably make similar linguistic errors in our own cosmological approach. Such inaccuracies in our habitual thinking process may seem trivial, but the cumulative effect of such an erroneous approach will have a deleterious effect upon our ability to form a well-functioning expansive model of our universe. I will cite many other examples of the unnecessarily bifurcative nature of our general approach to the form and use of language within the next few pages. For now, let it suffice that unnecessary divisions in our personally adopted code add to the degree of autism from which we suffer.

Here the use of "model" pertains to the second definition as it appears in the dictionary. We are focusing upon the systems we establish in order to make sense of our experience. Language is such a system and, as such, pervades and influences the nature and quality of our experience, perception, values and expectations. Language is a matrix that permeates every aspect of consciousness. Therefore the qualities of our daily experience are dependent upon our ability to use the wonderful tool that language is without succumbing to its hypnotic effect.

One may reach Robbie directly at bob@customposterworks.com.

His galleries are at www.myartprofile.com/robbie www.shutterfreaks.com/gallery21/main.php/v/robbiek/

His commercial website for his company: www.customposterworks.com

His second website: www.designerscarvesbymarlena.com

where one can find fine art and photography reproduced on habotai silk as apparel.

Telephone: 321 206 9320.