Re: Poem -- Unicorn

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Date Posted: 16:22:56 08/29/02 Thu
Author: Gray
Author Host/IP: 0-2pool18-132.nas52.stockton1.ca.us.da.qwest.net / 65.146.18.132
Subject: Re: Poem
In reply to: AAAAGGGSSS 's message, "Re: Poem" on 11:24:30 08/29/02 Thu

This is actually an answer to a similar question in another forum, I hope you don't mind my pasting it here, for expediency... (LOL.)

Well, I meant for the reader to think about it, based on a relationship to their own

experience... But, here are some (perhaps) obvious examples... The strongest drive in life is

arguably (yes, some would challenge...) survival, yet the inevitable conclusion is always death.
So strong is our drive for survival, we even conjur various ridiculous ideas regarding an

afterlife or reincarnation... We cling to them, are emotional about them, resent the challenge,

but they are ridiculous under even superficial scrutiny. Because of the resentment and

emotionalism, I am reluctant to elaborate on the ridiculous nature... Ummm, thoughts, for

example, are neural processes, quite mortal (extrapolate.)

Survival aside, our daily motivations assume "purpose", yet purpose is the most inescapable

mystery of our existence. Some of our purposes are known to be obviously transient, others not

so obvious, but the true fact is: none of our sense of purpose relates to any real purpose for

our being. We certainly want them to to! We will fight, even go to war for our side of the

argument, but the argument is moot... If their IS a true purpose, we are apparently incapable of

knowing it. We all have ideas, but examine what you KNOW. Knowledge is our primary tool for

understanding, yet when confronted with "The Great Mystery" we turn to faith (not always, but

it's common.) Faith being a condition of belief despite knowledge. To me, regardless of what the

beliefs may be, that is at least an ironic situation... (eg. transposing rational thought

processes upon ideas beyond logical interpretation.)

There are other examples, simpler perhaps. Someone I know recently attempted (planned actually,

was hospitilized by her sister before she made the actual attempt) her suicide because she could

not pay her bills. Trying not to be too callous, but one cannot pay their bills if they are

dead. Paying them was not the real issue, then, but living life as one who could not... well

that had unbearable conclusions, in her estimation. Rent: a comfortable place to live, utilities

primarily luxuries to make life more entertaining, etc... Money? A tool created to enable easy

bartering of produced resources, a means to allow one to share more... enabling one to produce

anything deemed worthy of payment, and then purchase any of many things available credited with

similar value. Basing one's purpose on a bartering instrument? Some higher mammals, apes, pack

animals, for example, engage in simple bartering... yet none near to our degree... and most other

living things (animals, and certainly not plants) see any need for intermediary transfer of worth

mechanisms. Sacrificing life because of the perceived shortage of a bartering mechanism?

Whatever... lots of examples... love is a good one... The whole concept, well at least for me,

gets too depressing under that kind of scrutiny. So, to art.

The first definition in blah blah blah says: "1. Human effort to imitate, supplement, alter, or

counteract the work of nature." Imitate or alter, supplement or counteract... nature. Yikes. I

say nature is more artistic than any human endeavour... maybe I meant definition 2a? "2.a. The

conscious production or arrangement of sounds, colors, forms, movements, or other elements in a

manner that affects the sense of beauty, specifically the production of the beautiful in a

graphic or plastic medium." Hmmm... "conscious"? (I know very few brilliant artists who were

very conscious of what the hell they were doing...) Plastic medium? Ok, Earth, matter, time, I

guess those are all plastic (malleable.) Let's try 3: "3. High quality of conception or

execution, as found in works of beauty; aesthetic value." Ok, that's better, and "beauty",

"aesthetic value" is the irony. Why is a mountain, a flower, beautiful? An ocean, a desert, a

star? What is that value? I say it IS beautiful, is all indeed quite beautiful... (yes, even

tragedy, even life and death, all the drama that is living and life existing by the rules of

chemistry, physics, biology, cosmology... what a complex work!) Appreciation of this beauty

alone is perhaps... Well, a grand work of art, and I don't know about purpose, but that seems

more innate than any I've heard to human existence, at least... Appreciate the masterpiece

before you, surrounding you.

Art is irony? Sorry, got off track... Van Gogh's boot... You probably have a boot sitting around

somewhere... when was the last time you appreciated the way it looked, just sitting there?

Appreciated it as art? Still off track. Ok, back to definitions...

Irony: "1. a. The use of words to express something different from and often opposite to their

literal meaning.
b. An expression or utterance marked by a deliberate contrast between apparent and intended

meaning.
c. A literary style employing such contrasts for humorous or rhetorical effect. See Synonyms at

wit1.
2. a. Incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs: �Hyde noted the irony

of Ireland's copying the nation she most hated� (Richard Kain)."

Ok, then let's grab "incongruity" out of that whole thing and compare it to [sic] "Imitate or

alter, supplement or counteract... nature." That's pretty incongrous... but more so, I meant the

irony of life is fine art. The struggle, the drive for purpose, for beauty of purpose, for a

purpose unknown... fine drama. I never meant to argue all art is irony based, I meant primarily

to argue that such irony is art. I might try to argue that all art is ironic, all

representative, a mediation between chaos and organization in order to present something in an

interesting (unique) but familiar way... but, well that part wasn't the point.

So, what was the point? Just something to think about. Another definition of irony that I left

out had something to do with something having the characteristics of iron, irony particles,

etc... but that didn't seem to relate.

(;

-Gray

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Re: Poem -- AAAAGGGSSS, 19:27:30 08/29/02 Thu