tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-237915638824970804.post4711254485338126277..comments2023-06-28T05:08:30.841-04:00Comments on Division Street / Divided Path: The Identity Fix(ation)Dividni Shostakovichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17134699729838873403noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-237915638824970804.post-37776572549168939282010-10-24T16:23:19.168-04:002010-10-24T16:23:19.168-04:00Hi Botgirl -- thanks for writing, and please exten...Hi Botgirl -- thanks for writing, and please extend my apologies to Chrome! (I liked your comic strips too, and as I have a knack of entering sites from the wrong direction, I must have missed the fact that I'd them walked into another person's region.)Dividni Shostakovichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17134699729838873403noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-237915638824970804.post-25226948945112391402010-10-24T13:58:17.342-04:002010-10-24T13:58:17.342-04:00I loved your thoughtful post.
First, although I ...I loved your thoughtful post. <br /><br />First, although I appreciate your kind comments, the works you cited and linked to are by my good friend <a href="http://www.chromeneversleeps.com/" rel="nofollow">Chrome Underwood</a>. <br /><br />My exhibit focused on avatar Identities that were born in Second Life that extend into other virtual worlds, MMOs, social networks, blogs and media sharing sites. The works I showed were created either completely or primarily outside of Second Life to illustrate the independence of avatar-based identity from any particular platform or medium.<br /><br />I agree that there's a lot of fuzziness in the way we use the term "identity". It has quite a few different meanings, but in general, I think of identity as the ways we attempt to objectify, define and project some finite conception of our infinite and fluid being.Botgirl Questihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01707252228872837054noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-237915638824970804.post-20763110336224622972010-10-24T10:20:21.146-04:002010-10-24T10:20:21.146-04:00Hi Miso! Yes, I recognize the age-old practice of ...Hi Miso! Yes, I recognize the age-old practice of speculative introspection, though if I'm not mistaken, little of it is in pursuit of an "essential self." In many traditions introspection aims to eliminate ego, re-channel it, control it, submerge it within a larger supra-consciousness, etc. The modern concept of self as something that *should* be a self-contained essence dates more or less from Descartes's "I think, therefore I am" (though it began emerging somewhat earlier).<br /><br />But in these discussions it's important to distinguish between the *sense* of self, a sense of interiority and separation which we all have and which is most likely a necessary product of both experience and physiology; and the *concept* of self, which is historically, socially and culturally variable, but often shapes the experience and understanding of the sense of self. I suspect that some of the speculative tradition you mention concerns the effort to make that distinction. My post, obviously, is mostly on the concept of self. The sense of sense is not necessarily felt or conceptualized as an "identity."<br /><br />Hi soror! I have similar doubts about themed shows, but perhaps more ambivalently. Back when I bothered with writing conference papers, usually I hated the conference theme, but sometimes it proved a useful challenge that prodded me toward new ideas. I think the theme of "identity" is ultimately sterile, but I have to admit, good art can come from it nevertheless.<br /><br />Thanks, both of you!Dividni Shostakovichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17134699729838873403noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-237915638824970804.post-71330087897606423782010-10-24T04:48:09.387-04:002010-10-24T04:48:09.387-04:00Yes, I have written some similar views regarding t...Yes, I have written some similar views regarding this show. It also, for me, highlights the dangers of 'themes' shows. I have to applaud it's brave attempt to add to the discussion which it obviously does (because of this and similar posts) but the idea that a group can pick a theme and run with it is one I question strongly.<br />Surely good art cannot be commissioned to present a philosophical view when the thoughts behind it require years of exploration. <br />I am also allergic to art used to 'promote awareness'.. e.g. Aids, torture etc. as these subjects are beyond debate, and therefore, in a way, sterile.<br /><br />It would be far better in my humble opinion to instruct the artists involved to make the best piece they can, independent of theme or the agenda of the sponsoring gallery.sororNishihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17385408562954387986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-237915638824970804.post-85767365309687642182010-10-24T03:10:40.495-04:002010-10-24T03:10:40.495-04:00'STATE of Mind' was a critique of both sta...'STATE of Mind' was a critique of both state-sponsored propaganda/jingoism and consumerism that can use the techniques of Madison Avenue to sell a war. Both techniques are used to impart a false sense of "belonging," either to a nation/flag (branding) or to socially-approved action and thought (herd mentality) which can often subvert independent thinking.<br /><br />I agree that one mode of identity is social. We cannot be removed entirely from our social matrix; even "outsiders" have their place, their slot. In this case, "content is advertising; advertising is content." <br /><br />The other, philisophical mode has been the subject of intellectual speculation for centuries. Just who are you, inside the onion-layers of accretion; inside your social blankets and encrustations; in the dark at 4am when the false identities of your constructed social existence are 10,000 light-years from home?<br /><br /><br />Thanks for the interesting column, and thanks again for mentioning the lack of Tinys, Furrys, Nekos, Cyborgs, SL Kids or some of the newer, non-anthropological avatars being seen lately. If the "identity question" is going to be confined to the same level as Prada vs The Gap, it is a narrow and cramped investigation.Miso Susanowahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14628657533849686313noreply@blogger.com