S T Y L E A N D F O R M A T
“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”
GEORGE BERNARD SHAW
GEORGE BERNARD SHAW
"...a king of shreds and patches."
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE - Hamlet , act 3, scene 4, line 102
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE - Hamlet , act 3, scene 4, line 102
I've noticed that the majority of later 20th century writers in 'occult' genre (Colin Wilson, Llyal Watson et al) assemble their material out of a collection of patches from a (usually) wide range of divesre sources to bring themn together to support a central arguament - with a kinda, "Isn't is obvious, why didn't you notice that?" tone. The worst of the breed hide the stitching and it is up to the reader tyo say "Ah, yes I recognise this from somewhere". The best of breed meticulously cite their sourses - indees, it's the credibillity of these sources that is the main support for their, sometimes outlandish, claims. What gets either lost are the authors genuine contribution, if any, or what gets lost is the fact that the author has no genuine or original insight.
My intention is to elevate this literary 'quilting' technique to a whole new level; strip away all the invisible stitching and concentrate information in quanta (I like the term 'hyper-patch' ); the objective the viewer to quickly get my point, agree or disagree with my patch and/or the connections I make and, hopefully, stimulate them to create patches and links of their own.
My intention is to elevate this literary 'quilting' technique to a whole new level; strip away all the invisible stitching and concentrate information in quanta (I like the term 'hyper-patch' ); the objective the viewer to quickly get my point, agree or disagree with my patch and/or the connections I make and, hopefully, stimulate them to create patches and links of their own.
" Writing allows even a stupid person to seem halfway intelligent; if only that person will write down the same thought over and over again, improving it just a little bit each time. It is a lot like inflating a blimp with a bicycle pump. Anybody can do it. All it takes is time."
KURT VONNEGUT JNR
KURT VONNEGUT JNR
In my strange compulsion to engage in a similar excersise I want to avoid these traps. I want to make it absolutely clear that this is a patchwork of ideas. Further I want this to be graphically obvious to the reader and further to use this device as a tool for telling my story. I went to art school when the differences between the fine arts and graphic design (indeed our generation invented the term) was less clearly defined. Most of the guys who taught me were fine artists who evolved. Indeed one visiting tutor was Felix Topolsky. We still did life drawing for instance. I was taught how to construct lettering by hand and typography was treated as an artform. From this I developed a kind of neurothesiacs boundry bluring between text and image. And went on throughout my subsequent career in design, advertising and marketing developed as a writer/designer. Very cost-effecrtive for my employers. And similarly so for me as I started my own business.
"Because our entire universe is made up of consciousness, we never really experience the universe directly we just experience our consciousness of the universe, our perception of it, so right, our only universe is perception."
ALAN OSWALD MOORE
ALAN OSWALD MOORE
How the brain processes information. The brain is a funy old thing. It is regarded in classical science (still the predoninant world view despite cbeing at least a century and a quarter out of date) as a meaty compyuter lodged conveniently behind the eyes that governs all the bodily function and does our thinking for us. Since the advent of quantum mechanics (the most powerful theory ever devised and upon which at least a third of modern technology relies and without which our world as we currently know it would colapse and which is only partially understood even by its scientists) 'consciousness' has been recognised as nothing less than the causal factor of creation - so that chink of meat in your cranium suddenly improves in status. Which it probably doesn't deserve - the jury is still out regarding the definition of 'consciousness'.
"Our three brains operate like three interconnected biological computers, [each] with its own special intelligence, its own subjectivity, its own sense of time and space and its own memory."
PAUL MACLEAN
PAUL MACLEAN
How the brain works; Physically the brain is layered and compartmentalised. And conceptually/funcioionally the analogy still applies. The ideal target of the advertiser/influencer is to lodge an idea at the core, the most primitive area of the brain. What is called the ...... and what some call the reptillian brain. The section which handles the most fundimental drives. Fight/flight, reproduction, reflex and autonomic functions. It has no values beyond survival and reproduction. No consciousnse.
"I saw a subliminal advertising executive, but only for a second."
STEVEN WRIGHT
STEVEN WRIGHT
To get there you need to penetrate the limen (as in the well known and oft misunderstoon term subliminal) which is the threshold between the conscious and unconscious. And there's a doorman (or a strict door /admission policy) . JUst like with every other barred threshold you can either talk your way in or simply (if you are feeling hard enough) kick the door down (or both). In this context creativity = talking and budget = brute force.
“Make it simple. Make it memorable. Make it inviting to look at. Make it fun to read.”
LEO BURNETT
LEO BURNETT
I think that a balance of image and written (or spoken) words is the most powerful way to implant a message. I'm not alone in this, of course, the 20th century has brought this concept to an incredible point of sophistication. To the extent that very few of us even notice when (let alone how) they are being marketed at. You don't have to read too many psychology books to understand that persuation/influence exploits the way our brains absorb information. Think of a quanta of persuation as a three stage rocket. 2 part rocket furl. There's words and images create abstract concepts and emotions (a perception of need) leading to action - buying, voiting, aproving etc. Depending on the media the balance of the word/image mixture varies. Then there's the intelectual land grabs which balance both equally. Orange.
"Only connect... Only connect the prose and the passion, and both will be exalted, and human love will be seen at its height. Live in fragments no longer. Only connect..."
E. M. FORSTER
E. M. FORSTER
So in order to achieve maximum penetration what I am going to do with this document is to unashamedly and very literally exploit the patchwork analogy. Unless it disrupst the flow of an original work that I have (respectfully) hijacked you are going to be fed a diet of 1 concept = image + text in bite sized portions. No stitching. This excersize is primarily for my own edification. It's me joining the dots. This modular approach allows me to recombine information as I go along with minimal rewrites. To this extent this process will never be complete because ther will always be new information coming to light and new combinations of existing material. And that allows you to recombine at will and make associations that work for you. And hopefully come up with associations that I have missed (in which case don't keep it to yourself). Where I have made what I consider to be an original or contravertial connection between patches I'll attempt to make this clear. So that the imagery and text dont confuse I have kept them seperate but linked (illuminated manuscript). It's analageous to the magic square.
"Information is the oxygen of the modern age. It seeps through the walls topped by barbed wire, it wafts across the electrified borders."
RONALD REAGAN
There has never been a time when so much information is available and there has therefore never been a time when so many connections can be made. That's the glory of being here, now.
RONALD REAGAN
There has never been a time when so much information is available and there has therefore never been a time when so many connections can be made. That's the glory of being here, now.