The piece centers around the idea, put forth by theoretical physicists working in quantum mechanics, that the world as we know it is really a two dimensional recording of our world--a holographic recording--at the event horizon of a black a hole. If this is true, and if we are ourselves simply a recording, then how does this problematize the concerns about authorship and authenticity that were posed earlier during the semester? How does it impact the claims to a certain radical shift away from intellectual property suggested by DJ culture? What, even, does it mean that each part of a holograph contains all the information necessary to generate that holograph... so there is no "after Aushwitz" in which it might be barbaric to write a poem: there is only the constant now of the recording, and our limited access to portions of it from our position within it.
At the moment, the project is a little bit of a hot mess. I am reaching toward things I am not at all confident I will fully grasp. But the ideas themselves are compelling, and suggest (at least to me) a way to recover a sense of unity within the fragmented selves of post-modernity.
Sarah: I like the project. It’s fine that it’s exploratory, deviating from a traditional paper. It’s OK to create an image reflecting in on itself of the “recording” of the universe. I can’t yet tell, from your description, how this will look, but I’m excited to see it. Try to focus on the relation between this theory and the claims for DJ culture. I realize that the format may not be accommodated by Google docs. Email it to me or send me a link to what you have.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds incredibly interesting. I think you have a great idea, though maybe a little too broad. I would stick with the DJ culture and how it relates to the fragmented self in post-modernity. You can probably certainly make comments about authorship and authority, though that is a broad topic in itself and may be too much to discuss in a ten page paper, or exploratory poem, performance... whatever. Anyway, I think it's good. Just try to narrow the focus a bit and be more specific.
ReplyDeleteOh, so glad I landed two above this one! I've always loved theories about what happens at the singularity of a black hole, what truly "breaks" there in terms of space (I read an amazing essay on how at each singularity, a new universe is born, and natural selection determines the properties of that universe--like if the speed of light is too fast, stars won't form and it won't have black holes and no "children," so favorable constants remain. neat, huh? probably wrong, but neat).
ReplyDeleteSo what i'm wondering is what this project will exactly look like--it seems like a performance of your idea, but do you know yet how this is going to situate itself, as Sandy was suggesting, in DJ culture--how, if as the theory suggests, this is all just a mix, what you'd be "remixing" of this recording?
I really want to see this piece when it's done, good luck, and interesting ideas!