10.04
In an interesting discussion between Sian and Jen two metaphors about the nature of the lifestream were analysed: curation and automatic writing, which –for purposes of alliteration, I am sure– was dubbed chaos.
I’ve taken another look at my lifestream so far and can safely say that the concept of curation doesn’t work for me. A curator not only should be in total control of his/her material before he/she begins to “collect, combine and contextualise artefacts” (Jen) but also he/she has the ability to place these artefacts in any chronological order he/she sees fit. In contrast, we are only just beginning to get a grasp of this course block’s material and we cannot control the chronological order of our lifestream.
I find Sian’s idea of “automatic writing” less troublesome but still not appropriate, mainly because automatic writing is not a product of conscious thought and I am sure that we are all investing quite a lot of conscious thought on what should be imported in our lifestreams and what should be left out.
For me the closest metaphor is “stream of consciousness”; that’s also the first term that came to mind when I was introduced to the concept of lifestreaming. I see my lifestream as a fragmentary presentation of my thought processes during the course, one that might not initially make a lot of sense (cue “chaos”). But I hope that what initially looks chaotic, will turn out to contain concepts and patterns and connections and maybe even a core of order.
STOLEN! A stream of consciousness work by Thomas M. Little
Interesting as it connects us with literary narrative and psychology – both relevant for our purposes. Makes me think of Virginia Woolf (who I love) and her “attempt to render the flow and the play of consciousness adrift in the current of changing impressions” (Auerbach E. 1946, Mimesis:The Representation of Reality in Western Literature)
Your are spot on; it was exactly Woolf I had in mind.
Nice links, though for me the modernist play with stream of consciousness doesn’t quite work for the lifstream either, as it leaves out the effects of technology. ie the thoughts and sensations of Mrs Dalloway, Molly Bloom etc were not required to be mediated digitally, their ‘flow’ was less – I don’t know – posthuman?
But the ‘adrift in the current of changing impressions’ works eh Sian? It amuses me to see my fluttering fixations recorded in my lifestream. Maybe Molly and Mrs Dalloway are my foremothers – human to my posthuman?