Pre-class post September 11 E.M.

When I read any of these particular pieces such as Lyotard I look at the time frame of the article. When Lyotard speaks about “Transavantgardism” and “This is a period of slackening” Is the early eighties the period of slackening to which Lyotard refers? And if it is – is this so called slackening period over are we onto another period moving from the period of the “end of experimentation” to another more or less reserved experimental phase. Or is it all--fluid and nebulous? To define and attempt to capture these concepts would be futile. Once identified they would be moving away mophing into another concept or reality. I believe the space we inhabit as humans is so multilayered-- it reminds me of Willie Wonka’s Wonkavator – It can go up or down or sideways or any other angle. The Post-Modern reality is in a sense a non-reality. Or are things only as real as people want to believe them to be. Reminds me of Peter Pan – and Tinker Bell – If we don’t believe in magic it will cease to exist. In a sense within the public consciousness if we don’t believe we are living in a certain reality or something or some concept does not bubble up and take hold -- then it does not exist. I know I strayed from Lyotards piece and ventured out into my own little bubble of thought. Yet to me Lyotard and his reference to certain thing set off a chain reaction of information in my brain. The closing statement of Lyotard’s piece is chilling – “The nineteenth and twentieth centuries have given us as much terror as we can take.” (46) Little did he know that that period of slackening was going to end with the advent of the new millennia. We have become the watch-dogs of each other. Our information data-mined and we are the favorite lab rats of the mechanism of industry and the military. It is no surprise we move closer into our game-world of Everquest or the Sims. We have control over these created worlds – you don’t like the game you nuke it and start over.