Sunday, July 18, 2010

A Note on the Metaphysics of Text

It has been about 18 months since I started Liberty Tries To Awaken Sleeping Reason
All the while, you proud few have followed me along
without which this could, literally, not have been possible
& I never stopped once to let you in on how its all supposed to work
So, to reward your most patient patience
I figured I'd give you the key to how this thing is supposed to happen.

This comes, to my own discredit, on the heels of some major changes to our little space here.
But that doesn't diminish your importance in the least,
really on the contrary:
You have asserted yourselves in the work since the very beginning,
and if this note is coming into being
it does so with your hands in it.

This comes down to what
Liberty Tries To Awaken Sleeping Reason is:
A Metablog
which
to understand that better
We'll look at something similar
Metafiction
definition via Wikipedia

Metafiction is a type of fiction 
that self-consciously addresses the devices of fiction, 
exposing the fictional illusion. 
It is the literary term describing fictional writing 
that self-consciously and systematically draws attention to its status as an artifact 
in posing questions about the relationship between fiction and reality, 
usually using irony and self-reflection. 


Which is(n't) terribly helpful


A Metablog is then a blog
that self-consciously addresses the devices of blogging,
exposing the aesthetic illusion.


With that in mind,
let's take a look at these changes.


Page Construction
This isn't the first time I've changed the "plastic" elements of the space
Sometimes it has been on account of Boredom
Other times Accident
But always with the consideration of the work in totality


That is not to say that every change
has accompanied some conscious alteration of theme
except in the way 
that as the form and matter of the aesthetic object
it changes the object as a whole.


Which is to say,
That the new Elephant on a Bicycle theme
is not indicative of a change in either my methodology or themes
except in the way that the constitution of the aesthetic object
affects engagement with the object


This happens, like all aesthetic engagements, on two fronts
which boils down to the same process on both sides
except with a distinction of roles and functions


That process is just the act of engagement
whatever that entails for the individual


I have removed the "Blogs I Follow" Gadget
because it distracted my eye
to the detriment of the work itself


This means, naturally, that many of your blogs
will not appear there
but I hope that information is available on your profiles
so as to not stop you from exploring
any of your fellow Followers' works
and thereby expand the possibilities of our work here


In its place,
I have added Labels to the posts
which took a hot minute
These are located under the heading:
DON'T USE THESE
which means:
DON'T USE THESE
and you shouldn't
mainly they are there to be used in a jiffy
and I don't encourage convenience
as a good way of reading poetry
my bathroom bookshelf excluded
that's a productive use of time


The point is to add Labels to the posts themselves
which should serve as an indication of each posts' Nature
and thereby allow us to communicate at a more productive level
but
If you happen to use them as a search guide
I trust you to accept 
that your action
will transform the work


I have likewise removed Music Preferences from my profile
as again,
it affected the aesthetic engagement in a way I found detracting
It also affected the number of preconditions 
I could account for in audience expectation
The incorporation of other media into the blog
are best isolated to the particular post in which they appear
and the collection of them established therefrom
Again, narrows the line of dialogue
allowing for better communication


This might be a good time to talk about Interests
Those were initially my way of establishing the context 
of Liberty Tries To Awaken Sleeping Reason
They either express an interest of the creator
which is my role and function
as thematic insight into underlying anxieties
within the work
or
display the methodological approaches
which make up the work's aesthetic theory


Divided:
Underlying Anxieties
Doom, Art, Protest, Private Spaces, Public Spaces
Methodological Considerations
Minimalism, Metafiction, Deconstruction

The choice of "personal" interests
I wanted to attribute to the author function
were carefully considered
not for their coolness in conjunction
but for the absolute reliability of their subject matter
as source material for the work
That is to say,
they are to be considered as ever-present preconditions
for the work's authorial construction

Doom works as the zero factor in the work
it is the bar by which all judgments are made
which is really the only thing that needs explaining
except
that this blog is written by the only author with any interest in
Private Spaces
Weird, right?

Minimalism aint what Wikipedia says it is
it deserves a post of its own
which I've been meaning to write and aint

The other two are what they are,
one was explained above,
the other,
explained for the last 18 months

Back to my earlier promised key
to Liberty Tries To Awaken Sleeping Reason

The Mechanics of Metablogging

A Metablog is a blog
that self-consciously addresses the devices of blogging,
exposing the aesthetic illusion.

I engage the work
self-consciously addressing the object
The object is best described in The Metaphysics of Text II
in a graph explaining the creator/spectator relationship
(thats You reading the Productive Object):

Textual Chain

The dotted green lines are not real lines
they are illusory lines 
constructed by a false belief in direct communication


In engaging the work
my object
is its existence as a Textual Chain


As a Metablog this chain becomes  cyclically kaleidoscopic
as the Productive Object
(the work as it produces your perception of it)
is changed by your contribution to the work
(actually or assumed)
into a Reproductive Object


My only response can be to a work forever in flux
That flux rests in the constant struggle to overcome
the division between all engaged parties
represented in the Textual Chain
this Striving is the space of
Liberty Tries To Awaken Sleeping Reason

That space is a kind of ex nihilio creatio
which is complicated
but that is the nature of all textual manifestation
and our unconscious suppression of which
is
the nature of the above divide

Which in reverse says:
Our engagement with the work
is conscious of the divide
between
Language and Meaning
and produces accordingly

This takes a lot into account
considering we are engaged in communication
but the text which results from this
is Being-in-Itself
in effect
The Work Communicates Only Itself

i.e.
"Drop that Beat!"

As we understand it
Drop that Beat
indicates
an ensuing onslaught
of bass and hi-hat

but Drop and Beat
carry with them them a legacy of different significations
so that
"Drop that Beat!"
evokes
"You Dropped that Beat!"
which would be an error on behalf of the percussionist

So
the attempt to communicate
"DJ, Rock the Party"
an (arguably) positive Meaning
(Drop that Beat!)
conveys an obviously negative Meaning
(You Dropped that Beat!)
by the nature of its Language

Which
if "Drop that Beat"
conveys two mutually exclusive Meanings
than
it has no Meaning-in-Itself

In contrast:
The Work Communicates Only Itself

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