Clive Wearing's case is perhaps the most comprehensive one of amnesia to date. I've been fascinated by the concept of having zero memory ever since I heard about Clive during a Psych 230 (Brain, Learning and Memory, taught that year by John Jonides--who lectured on this particular module--, Steve Maren, and Joshua Berke) lecture in my first semester of college. People in general are obsessed with memories--making them, retrieving them, making them up, making something of them, the last one perhaps most crucial to our functioning. Anyhow, I recently found out somebody had done a documentary called "Prisoner of Consciousness" on him. My first urge was to scrunch up my eyebrows and ask, is he really the prisoner, or are we, those with perfectly well-operating and maybe even hyperactive memory systems, more so imprisoned than he is? Doesn't his inability to remember life free him from the responsibility of "making something of it?" And then, is he a prisoner only because he has to continue living in the world of people? And then this led me to remember (yes) a story a friend had recalled (there, again) to me about his brief scuffle with amnesia: it involved a skiing accident, and emerging from complete unconsciousness (note that this does not mean cessation of all brain ino activity; just that we are not aware of this brain activity, and so cannot judge, feel, shape it, as we would in waking or even a dream) into a state of complete placidity (and amnesia)--a transcendental state of wisdom, perhaps, in which one is aware that one knows nothing (Plato's definition of wisdom), and for once understands that and why there is no need to change from the present state.
So all this talk about prisoners and memories is wonderfully (and complexly, confusingly) relevant to the paper I am currently writing (and is due in 24 hours!!) on WANTS. Now Want is another lynchpin of my particular quest for restful consciousness (not wise, in the least, I am). Want is a lack and a drive; it marks the relationship between an internal state and an external interaction; we want something, so we strive to get it, or else we hold that want in, roasting ourselves with the deliciousness ( in lack there is promise; in fulfillment, there is another want waiting, another rung of Plato's ladder to ascend) to the point where we have collected enough char to create ART.
The prompt, broken down to its essentials:
What motivates desire?
What are the consequences of desire?
How does desire create conflict between individual and larger systems? Between a person and people?
How does desire create a story?
My simple response to that is, desire creates life--or "felt life," as Richard Bausch put it (and I take to mean life beyond biological maintenance of survival). Without desire, there is no movement; without movement, we are either mentally vegetative/dead or we have obtained that transcendental wisdom (I use this term because I don't know how else to describe it; it may not be wisdom at all, or even transcendental, but I want to point out the existence of a super-state that somehow manages to integrate everything, and by doing such, eliminates all need for want--is there a NEED for want?) The last question in the parentheses leads back into the prisoner concept, as well the concept I prodded a bit in 240: Art as Excess. Is Want a consequence of consciousness? If so, are we all Prisoners of Consciousness? Prisoners of our own wants, as the stories I've chosen to analyze seem to illustrate? If wants are necessary for the maintenance of movement/Life, then one want must lead to another, and one quickly finds himself an atom splitting and splitting a nuclear fission reaction. But how about if we choose a want in the beginning that goes straight to the source--not sex, drugs, love, but Art--a want (the want is the drive behind artistic creation) that is fundamentally unfulfillable, perhaps even insatiable in its demand for human soul and other such resources. So are artists the only ones able to escape the prison of consciousness? Or are they the ones who accept the prison, and by acceptance, redefine it ("Only when we accept our limits can we go beyond them." - Albert Einstein)? Or is art merely a distraction too, leading to unnecessary pain, the raw need of the artist's want making him intolerant to the logistics of life itself? Or am I spinning myself in circles here because I haven't defined what a true artist is yet? Here's Paul, who thinks himself an artist; here's Sonny, who really is an artist. Art is not the pursuit of some ideal world; art is brutal acceptance and the attempt to go beyond, the attempt to take what is to what can be; the process of taking WANT to IS.
And what about memory? What about Clive? Having no consciousness, but undoubtedly conscious of the self, he wrote constantly, he was creating himself constantly. Which leads me to ask, do our wants create our selves, or do our selves create our wants? He was amnesic, he wanted to write, he created himself, if only for a moment. Seems cyclic.
The problem I have with academic papers is committing myself to one idea and ONE train of thought/draw out one proof long enough to slap down five or so pages. I didn't have such a huge problem before, but 240 seems to have opened this door in the floor, and now I'm Alice wandering around in Some Land past the looking glass, Peter Pan refusing to give up play for serious, methodical analysis. It's hard to bridge imagination and analysis; maybe this is what the artist does best, and maybe this is what transcends, bringing the self to others through art.
--EDIT--
More:
I think I am going to analyze these stories:
Sonny's Blues
A Good Man is Hard to Find
The Third and Final Continent
and maybe also:
Paul's Case
A Temporary Matter
maybe my framework is wrong...
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Friday, February 15, 2008
awesome.
EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT
U-M artists-designers reveal link between research, self-expression
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| Click image to watch video |
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—In a far-ranging exhibit of their latest creative work, University of Michigan faculty members in the School of Art & Design demonstrate a mastery of technique, and an engaging curiosity in working with new and emerging media while offering a glimpse into the aesthetic issues that shape their art.
Works of 30 artists are featured in this year's 4th Annual Faculty Exhibition. The exhibit reflects a range of eclectic work by artists at various stages of the creative process, from renderings of concepts to finished pieces of art.
An assemblage of paintings, prints, photography, video, jewelry, kinetic work and installation, the exhibit runs through Feb. 22 at two of the School's galleries, the Slusser Gallery on Bonisteel Boulevard and Work • Ann Arbor on S. State Street.
"This exhibit is a showcase as well as a snapshot of our current work," said Bryan Rogers, dean of the School of Art & Design. "Each faculty member is actively engaged with issues pertaining to her/his chosen media, as well as the process of continually refining her/his art. This is a glimpse into our research as artists-designers."
For many, the notion of "research" is an academic activity that is quantifiable, and based on the scientific method of critical observation, hypothesizing, testing, and ultimately, theorizing. In contrast to that conventional definition of research, the U-M artists-designers' work reflects their dynamic probative inquiries into the realm of emotion and intellect. The work also reveals creative practitioners testing the limits of their media.
"All of the artists-designers were brought together under the mission of providing a broad-based education to students," said Jim Cogswell, U-M professor of art. "The work doesn't necessarily represent a single theme. In fact, it stretches the viewer to take in a diverse range of experiences."
Exhibition offers artists-designers an opportunity to engage with audiences. The aim is to spark a connection.
"There's an expectation when you put your work out that it will stir a dialogue about where you're at with your work," said Tirtza Even, A&D assistant professor. "The hope is that the conversation goes beyond the mundane and into places that we care about."
The School of Art & Design 4th Annual Faculty Exhibition is at the Slusser Gallery, 2000 Bonisteel Blvd., Ann Arbor. Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday.
The exhibit also fills Work Gallery, 306 S. State St., downtown Ann Arbor. Hours: noon-7 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; noon-8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; noon-5 p.m. Sunday; closed Monday.
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