A few weeks ago; leaving Colchester, by train. As we accelerated out of the station we passed a little grey church sitting in the middle of an industrial estate, a dove nesting in a litter of polystyrene. It made me think of how swans choke to death on discarded lead fishing weights, or strangle themselvesContinue reading “Grey stone, white plastic”
Category Archives: Philosophy
‘I cannot make it cohere’ – or, utopia
Been pondering utopia, largely because I’ve just been reading ‘Utopia’. Like Heaven, Utopia is a post dramatic place; drama being conflict, the only drama that can happen in a utopia is a fall from perfection, because that’s the only way of inducing conflict. That fall’s either going to be the fall of the individual, orContinue reading “‘I cannot make it cohere’ – or, utopia”
Lathes, heavens
‘The Lathe of Heaven’ as a reflection on writing; the writer breaking down and remaking the world, maintaining the familiar but balancing it with the novel… fading memories of the real world as you dive into the book. George Orr is the point of contact between different worlds – is he author or reader? Author,Continue reading “Lathes, heavens”
Video ergo sum
Description used to be a rarity; now it’s universal. Foucault – ‘Power produces; it produces reality; it produces domains of objects and rituals of truth. The individual and the knowledge that may be gained of him belong to this production’. Forms of control have always involved precise description, defining the terms of control, that controlled.Continue reading “Video ergo sum”