Tuesday, January 24, 2017

equivalent exchange



One of the basic rules of alchemy is the idea of polarity - everything has an equaled opposite. With that being said, the concept of "digital alchemy" manifests itself as a juxtaposition, as two contrasting ideas. When we think about alchemy, we think about an outdated practice steeped in mystical and magical tendencies; on the other hand, we have the "digital" aspect of it, which is the product of technology and science. To combine the two is the start of our journey of exploring our alchemist identities: we are practicing transmuting the mysticism of fiction into the digital realm, marrying the old and the new, to produce something completely different and wonderful.

I'm intrigued to see how else we will use digital alchemy to guide us through this class, and to see what we will create through a bunch of elements we will explore, play with, and use. Additionally, I feel like the most important part of this class will to keep our minds open to endless possibilities, as cliche as it sounds, as if we were alchemists years ago who truly believed that they could transform lead into gold. If we keep our minds closed and refuse to push our fantastical limits of what we can imagine, we lose the magic storytelling contains.

Other than that, I do not know much about the realm of alchemy and how we can relate it to our networked narratives; however, there seems to be a lot of potential in our class, as we seem to all be alchemists who lead different lives, have different interests, and have different tales to share. The stories in all of us are only part of the elements we need to combine with the technological tools to manifest our own version of a philosopher's stone of collective narratives.

3 comments:

  1. Very interesting to think about duality of alchemy and digital, and also how they might be complementary?

    We understand and live in a world defined by polarity; it might bend the mind to play with a universe where there might be ternary or more forces.

    Off to a good blogging start! Great choice for your dark theme and symbols

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  2. Hmmm... interesting insight around the polarity of ideas, and how one plays off another. I wonder about how this plays out with digital media, too -- what would polarity look like in digital storytelling? The use of negatives? Mirrors?
    Kevin

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  3. The idea of polarity is also raised the the practise of Tai Chi....for each movement there is and equal and opposite force. your writing has me thinking of balance and different forces in the digital realm and unbalance (ie fake news).

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