Intro | Background 2 | Breathe 2 | Manchester | Propositions 2 3 4 | References | Results 2 | Inquiries | Notes
Background
Prior to the Breathe residency, my understanding of optimism and pessimism can be summed up as these fundamental principles:
Optimism / Pessimism chart
1. Daily life is full of shitty experiences, like looking for parking or waiting in line at the grocery store.
2. Consumer culture boasts
of progress and convenience, but cannot live up to the expectations it creates.
3. Feeling trapped in the corporeal world (what William Gibson calls “meatspace”1) exacerbates the sense of frustration.
4. Pessimism is tied to the mundane.
Metaphors
5. On the other hand, happiness is fleeting and ephemeral.
6. Optimism is tied to transcendence.
7. However, rather than viewing
optimism and pessimism as an intractable dichotomy, I see them as interconnected
and simultaneously useful.
8. I am ambivalent (pulled strongly in two directions) between optimism and pessimism.
9. I explore optimism and pessimism with metaphors of light and dark, works and meanings, material and ineffable.
notes
1. William Gibson. Neuromancer. New York: Ace Books [1984]
