I went to a discussion group on the
ethics of pervasive media at the PMS recently, and started to think about some of the issues raised, in relation to soundlines and sightlines. One outcome was the usefulness of creating a 'Principles and Provocations' guide to use in (pervasive) media projects.
If an evolved contemporary media is made from, and an artefact of, cultural mileaeu; is that also true of pre-literate times? Are those artefacts carriers of the great thinking of the day? Do we really leave our mark in words, films, artefacts? More than by our actions, emotional release, passing on of hereditary tendencies? EMF would suggest otherwise - that on an electromagnetic level we contribute to the environment/humanity/universe more potently, more significantly, through the 'charge' we carry/accumulate/release. Is it possible to read this 'invisible' mileau? Is it the other side of the coin to artefacts and words? even images? Or is there a more complex interwoven relationship that is yet to be unravelled?
Whilst we heard about
Bernard Stiegler's work, from
Patrick Crogan I kept thinking of the
Qaatsi trilogy. From time and space across the earth to peoples, patterns and rituals. And finally onto the virtual location - media as place and basis for relationship - which I found harsh and dysfunctional. For me the real strength is in the first part of the trilogy, the physical existence that is so easily overlooked as we get more 'sophisticated'. So I think I'm agreeing with Stiegler's ideas that the media industries are tied to an outdated, 'expert' driven "battery farming of attention" and that media needs to find ways to access and respect the majority mind (I'd call it collective consciousness) and the individual's critical faculty ('psychic and collective individuation' to quote wikipedia).
I think that is what excites me about the values of Sightlines - at the heart is the raw landscape through the passage of time. As people we are wrapped onto and into that passage. But the land sustains. And what we pass on in that place is not through words, artefacts or even music - they are just the tools to facilitate our awareness that our energy is part of the place, has a relationship with it, and perhaps lingers to communicate with future others in a way far beyond the substance of normal words and media.
It takes confidence to travel slowly in today's racing-car world.
It was good to be reminded of the strength of a personally-significant (media)art work. The Qaatsi films hold that role for me, consequently I can relate any issue back to them, and they become a 'personal truth map' to guide me in unravelling those other structures in a 'personally-significant' way too.
The other strong re-membering I had during the discussion was a story related to Community Building. I was quite into Scott Peck's work and experiential community building a while back.
It was a story of story of a community building leader who had just returned from 6 months living on and reconnecting with ancestral land, and drumming. In a group meeting where noone could understand anyone else and there really seemed no way out of conflict (as the story goes), this man quietly picked up his drum and began a simple heartbeat rhythm. Before long everyone was moved to stillness, tears in eyes, the spirit of community awakened from deep within.
I love that story, and often remember it when words just don't quite seem to reach the spot.
(In Peck's model of community, any group will go through stages from finding superficial common ground, to the clash of chaos, silence of emptiness in which any barrier to community 'comes up', to community - a tangible state in which people respect eachother's differences and work collectively towards a common goal. If you're like me and sometimes find it hard to talk in groups, this is the enjoyable state where there's always a pause when you need it and people literally feel moved to speak.)
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