Imagination and Creation
After what I stated in my last post, I think we need to dedicate some attention to the power of imagination and the actual creation. I mentioned that science fiction was a mental experiment trying to understand the human nature and its intricacies, exploring its limits and possibilities.
One of the most remarkable features of human nature is curiosity, is what drives many into the exploration of the unknown, to uncover the mysteries of the universe and the complexity of the human mind, its the primary engine of human action and keeps men and women alike moving towards the unknown. This feature gave birth to many things, one of which is Philosophy, that is underestimated and considered useless by many due to the tendency it has to incline towards abstract and non practical issues of reality; however, the ongoing exploration of the human DNA, the origin of the universe, the structure of the atom and the future of earth are inspired and sustained by purely philosophical questions: who are we? where do we come from? what are we made of? where are we going?
Most science fiction stories have dealt with issues such as genetic mutation, parallel universes, discovery of new laws of Physics and the prediction of the future, with the clear intention of exploring the possibilities that unravel the moment these questions are taken out of the usual context they are immersed in. In the case of the X-Men series, in which many of the characters have evolved into superior beings with incredible powers, it has raised questions about racism and segregation, genetic manipulation and the effects it could probably have on our world today: these issues have been historically evident and are still fresh in the memory of the survivors: The Holocaust and the Apartheid show us how racism and segregation can disrupt life in many levels. It's known by many that in the case of X-Men is the Holocaust the cause of the division of ideals of Professor Charles Xavier and Magneto, as one believes that all humans are created equal, while the other defends the superiority of the evolved humans into mutants.
Creation then will be defined in two possible ways: art as imitation (mimesis) and art as creation (poiesis). This was discussed by the Greeks which sometimes saw art more as imitation and not as creation (particularly regarding certain arts) therefore lacking the true beauty that could only be found in nature: an sculpture would never be equal to the real thing, a painting would never match what the eyes could see, we could only see copies of perfection but would never grasp the true nature of anything, as it was beyond our senses and our possibilities. So, what kind of art would be science fiction? imitation or creation? Well, that's where the beauty of science fiction lies, because it copies reality, it borrows elements from reality but it also creates new things that have never existed and which can help us understand much better reality.
With this in mind, we can see that our view of the universe is one of unfairness and injustice, laws of nature state clearly that we are not created equal and that most of us will have to subdue and abide to laws which makes us feel helpless, useless, little and which cannot be contested. So imagination leads the way to create alternate realities in which this laws can be bend or broken, just like inside the Matrix, with the clear reminder that there is no spoon, when after we go through a reality check, we discover that the spoon is there and it simply won't bend. This particular situation is known in psychology, from the psychoanalytical perspective, as sublimation, a defense mechanism in which the mind through creation learns to deal with the awful truth. Sublimation is then the encounter of imagination and creation as response to the nonsensical nature of reality in which things don't work the way we planned them.
Some might object that art doesn't not come this way, that it comes from somewhere else, that the human spirit doesn't produce art to deal with reality. Mimesis and poiesis mingle into sublimation to create worlds in which the anguish and despair of live can be endured, as a form of catharsis in which the soul can release the pressure of the demands made by nature. Nietzsche delves into the Greek psyche and finds that art was basically the fight of good and evil, beauty and ugly, light and day, the duality that is engrained in our deepest beliefs, trying to overcome the harsh existence of humanity; this is central to Nietzsche's book "The birth of tragedy", in which he explores the connections between Apollo and Dionysus in the process of creation and how, in the end, humanity decided to use Maya's veil to hide the horror of life in this planet.
Science fiction as sublimation leads us into this way, it is a escape from reality with reality as the foundation of all that exists in this realms beyond what we can see or beyond the stars, where we can travel faster than the speed of light, in which we can bend spoons with our mind through telekinesis and live forever feeding of the blood of our fellow brethren. Whether is fantasy or true science fiction, is part of the human nature to use sublimation as a defense mechanism, that we promptly deny this fact to seek other answers to those questions we absolutely abhor because we know the answer.
Image credit: http://paradoxofmatrix.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/spoon.jpg
One of the most remarkable features of human nature is curiosity, is what drives many into the exploration of the unknown, to uncover the mysteries of the universe and the complexity of the human mind, its the primary engine of human action and keeps men and women alike moving towards the unknown. This feature gave birth to many things, one of which is Philosophy, that is underestimated and considered useless by many due to the tendency it has to incline towards abstract and non practical issues of reality; however, the ongoing exploration of the human DNA, the origin of the universe, the structure of the atom and the future of earth are inspired and sustained by purely philosophical questions: who are we? where do we come from? what are we made of? where are we going?
Most science fiction stories have dealt with issues such as genetic mutation, parallel universes, discovery of new laws of Physics and the prediction of the future, with the clear intention of exploring the possibilities that unravel the moment these questions are taken out of the usual context they are immersed in. In the case of the X-Men series, in which many of the characters have evolved into superior beings with incredible powers, it has raised questions about racism and segregation, genetic manipulation and the effects it could probably have on our world today: these issues have been historically evident and are still fresh in the memory of the survivors: The Holocaust and the Apartheid show us how racism and segregation can disrupt life in many levels. It's known by many that in the case of X-Men is the Holocaust the cause of the division of ideals of Professor Charles Xavier and Magneto, as one believes that all humans are created equal, while the other defends the superiority of the evolved humans into mutants.
Creation then will be defined in two possible ways: art as imitation (mimesis) and art as creation (poiesis). This was discussed by the Greeks which sometimes saw art more as imitation and not as creation (particularly regarding certain arts) therefore lacking the true beauty that could only be found in nature: an sculpture would never be equal to the real thing, a painting would never match what the eyes could see, we could only see copies of perfection but would never grasp the true nature of anything, as it was beyond our senses and our possibilities. So, what kind of art would be science fiction? imitation or creation? Well, that's where the beauty of science fiction lies, because it copies reality, it borrows elements from reality but it also creates new things that have never existed and which can help us understand much better reality.
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| There is no spoon, or so was taught Neo in the move "Matrix" |
Some might object that art doesn't not come this way, that it comes from somewhere else, that the human spirit doesn't produce art to deal with reality. Mimesis and poiesis mingle into sublimation to create worlds in which the anguish and despair of live can be endured, as a form of catharsis in which the soul can release the pressure of the demands made by nature. Nietzsche delves into the Greek psyche and finds that art was basically the fight of good and evil, beauty and ugly, light and day, the duality that is engrained in our deepest beliefs, trying to overcome the harsh existence of humanity; this is central to Nietzsche's book "The birth of tragedy", in which he explores the connections between Apollo and Dionysus in the process of creation and how, in the end, humanity decided to use Maya's veil to hide the horror of life in this planet.
Science fiction as sublimation leads us into this way, it is a escape from reality with reality as the foundation of all that exists in this realms beyond what we can see or beyond the stars, where we can travel faster than the speed of light, in which we can bend spoons with our mind through telekinesis and live forever feeding of the blood of our fellow brethren. Whether is fantasy or true science fiction, is part of the human nature to use sublimation as a defense mechanism, that we promptly deny this fact to seek other answers to those questions we absolutely abhor because we know the answer.
Image credit: http://paradoxofmatrix.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/spoon.jpg
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