Eastern Thought & Cycles
This week was about different Eastern religions and ways of thinking, with transcendentalism, John Cage, the meaning of life, and reincarnation. I learned a fair amount this week, as I wasn't aware of the ins and outs of these ideas at all. Though I don't believe in reincarnation, I think it's an interesting way to think about culture. It seems like the same events from the 1910s–1930s are repeating themselves in modern culture, except now in social media. Cultural rebirth from this kind of perspective should be discussed more — maybe we are repeating ourselves through cycles.
When it comes to 'the meaning of life' — my own belief personally is that there isn't one, or if there is, we can't inherently know it. So looking for it should become that meaning of life, in a way. This is actually echoed somewhat through the description of Buddhism, so I'm happy about that.
I'm somewhat suspicious of the Buddhist ideas of transcending material needs. Even if you transcend ego, you are still ultimately connected to the material world and others. Connections to others are an integral part of the human experience. Separating yourself from others and the material concerns of both your body and those around you almost becomes a preaching of the superego rather than a form of ego-death. If there's anything to be avoided, I think it is accepting things as they are — that isn't transcending, it's nihilistic. My main issue with religions that make claims of individual freedom is that they assume the outside world is a constant; they disregard issues like poverty or starvation while ignoring that things can be better.
The idea of Hinduism as 'Groundhog Day' is fairly funny to me but also interesting. As I mentioned in Week 2, I've been inspired by this class to start my own creative project in a sci-fi setting based on the ideas of interconnectedness and cycles. This project is not developed at all, and very amateurish, but I felt I should mention it. If you live in a world with no beginning or end, and your effects don't really matter in the long run as they will eventually be destroyed — do you no longer exist? Or does your existence become based on momentary change, on how your actions break whatever cycles you are in?
Something I like about Hinduism is how it asks you to transcend being bored and instead find extremely mundane ideas interesting. I echo this wholeheartedly. I think a great painting should be looked at with the same interest as a concrete wall, as both, in their own ways, have a lot to say. Nine Inch Nails used this idea in one of their albums — the cover for The Downward Spiral is a concrete wall covered in grime, with some rebar sticking out on the left-hand side. I think it is one of the best album covers of all time, making what would otherwise just be seen as gross into something interesting and introspective.
I'm somewhat melancholic about this week. I've been enjoying this class so much, and to think there's only one lecture and one tutorial left makes me kind of sad. Genuinely, this class is what's kept me sane this semester, and has changed how I think about art, life, and everything in between. I'm taking Videogames: Remaking Reality next semester, and I hope it's as good.
Something I was disappointed by this week: the lesson plan says we were going to talk about AI, but we didn't really touch on it. Warhol was introduced, but the link between Warhol arguing that infinitely replicated art reduces its value and AI wasn't made very clear to me — even though I felt like it should have been. It could add more interesting conversation dating back to week 2 and 3 when we talked about religion and the industrial revolution, now that AI Jesus is so popular
