This last class session we talked about how time is only that which we make it. It is invented for us as a way to put a kind of order and control in our lives. I have often thought about the subject of the inventions of man and left with *enter brain explosion*. However once I do start to question the names of objects (table, cells, eyes, space) the more I realize how scattered our sense of reality really is. Even these "words" I use everyday to express myself, are really just a way of communication through the use of line. yet people from all over the world, every second, are writing what they believe to be words. I know. Brain explosion time again. The subject in class brought me back to a philosophy course I took while at Pasadena City College. The professor was constantly coming back to the same questions that Jimmy had, and these questions took my simple understanding of time to a whole other level.
Although I know deep down that I probably will never find the answers to these questions, it does give me kind of flexibility in my work as a designer. As for the course, I see it as "skies the limit"--just how far can I go? It's a little scary and exciting at the same time because you never know what you are really capable of creating until you're willing to go there.
After our "deep thinking" exercise, Jimmy moved onto some pictures projected on screen for all of us to see--Our second "looking" exercise. The first picture was of three women, the two women on the left were wearing white coats, the woman on the right was wearing a coat, the two women on the left were facing you, you could only see the left half of the woman's body on the right. We were not supposed to assume what was going on, or make assumptions about what was in the picture. Instead, we had to look at the facts in front of us and take them at face value. Jimmy pointed out that we are used to seeing something or someone and making an immediate judgment about this thing or person. I believe we did this so that we could begin to step out of our "programmed" way of thinking about things and start to focus on what is really happening here and now. What are we really seeing anyway?
It was very interesting to describe the photos without making any assumptions, don't you think?
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree with the naming of objects. People all over the world have different names for the same object, yet it IS the same thing. What chaos would occur if there were no names for anything? The possibility of pointing and grunting would be present if not for names.
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