"Iconography"
We are a species born unto symbolism and abstraction. Without these the mind would completely tear us from the ground beneath our feet. In a sense symbols imbue reality with deeper layers of meaning, but when used correctly they push us further into raw experience. They are the glue that bind meaning into the world. They are powerful tools that we have forgotten how to wield.
Now is an era of hollow pageantry and shallow imagery. We betray ourselves by embracing symbols that lack depth and purpose. Transformational meaning is eschewed for the efficiency of scientific regulation and corporate tokenism. Art in the public realm is dead and devoid of subtlety. It fails to provoke or inspire.
This path goes hand in hand in our servile domestication. Our choices are engineered for us. The architect, the computer programmer, and all those denizens of governmental planning and efficiency each ply their trade to restrict and suffocate the spirit of the individual. We lack the language to express a rebellion because the very tools for doing so have been defiled and our agency has been stripped away.
Symbolism works only if it speaks the language of deep metaphor. There is no room for cheap simile here. An awakening of the spirit is brought about only through feeling, discipline, and the rebuilding of a lost art. It is a reclamation of our ability to chart our own respective courses as individuals free from the shackled manipulations of the digital age. Instead we must search out our path by way of the stars above a midnight sky.
To live we must first feel the symmetry of the world and our own ideals. It is necessary to take charge and choose creation over consumption. To communicate from our own breasts in the heart’s language. The earth is a mother, the wind is a breath, and the stars are a pathway. The halo is broken - the stains align a cosmic purpose - life comes from death, good and evil are illusory conspirators, and our own icon shows us the way.
Now is an era of hollow pageantry and shallow imagery. We betray ourselves by embracing symbols that lack depth and purpose. Transformational meaning is eschewed for the efficiency of scientific regulation and corporate tokenism. Art in the public realm is dead and devoid of subtlety. It fails to provoke or inspire.
This path goes hand in hand in our servile domestication. Our choices are engineered for us. The architect, the computer programmer, and all those denizens of governmental planning and efficiency each ply their trade to restrict and suffocate the spirit of the individual. We lack the language to express a rebellion because the very tools for doing so have been defiled and our agency has been stripped away.
Symbolism works only if it speaks the language of deep metaphor. There is no room for cheap simile here. An awakening of the spirit is brought about only through feeling, discipline, and the rebuilding of a lost art. It is a reclamation of our ability to chart our own respective courses as individuals free from the shackled manipulations of the digital age. Instead we must search out our path by way of the stars above a midnight sky.
To live we must first feel the symmetry of the world and our own ideals. It is necessary to take charge and choose creation over consumption. To communicate from our own breasts in the heart’s language. The earth is a mother, the wind is a breath, and the stars are a pathway. The halo is broken - the stains align a cosmic purpose - life comes from death, good and evil are illusory conspirators, and our own icon shows us the way.