Detroit city foreclosure: Ausverkauf und Aufbruch
- By Jo Thoma
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- 06 Mar, 2021
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Wenn wir alles optimieren, was bleibt von uns?
Naja, dieser Space wird eben noch optimiert.
Wenn Sie es bis hierher geschafft haben, heiße ich Sie herzlich willkommen!
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Im Grunde geht es hier darum, dem Wort nun doch mehr Raum zu verschaffen. Es genügt eben nicht für mich, sich nur auf einer Ebene aufzuhalten. Warum auch. Vielfalt ist eben viel interessanter. Darum auch das Wort einbinden als einen neuen Raum, der hier eröffnet wird.
Als ich zum ersten Mal in die Vereinigsten Staaten von Amerika ankam, war das wie ein Kulturschock für mich. Ein Touchdown der besonderen Art. Eine Art Wanderung durch Detroit, der Stadt der Verlorenen oder die verlorene Stadt. Detroit war damals in den 2010er Jahren aber auch ein magischer Ort. Ein Ort der Wandlung, der Kreativität und auch Mahnmal aus einer anderen Zeit. Durch Detroit zu laufen war fast eine Art Immersion, ein Eintauchen in (post)apokalyptische Welten. Und doch entstanden neue, kreative Formen in dieser Motorcity, wo Mowtown, Friedensmärsche und Arbeiteraufstände so vielfältige und so unterschiedliche Lebensformen mischten. Aber was muss dem Wandel weichen? Kunst? Der soziale Ort? Vielleicht muss man sich neue Räume schaffen, um sich zu entfalten. Das Schöne sehen in seinen verschiedenen Formen. Der Versuch einer Kommunikation der unterschiedlichsten Kräfte. Darum dieser neue Raum. Mal sehen, was daraus wird. Perfekt muss keiner sein, erst in der kreativen Unvollkommenheit liegt Kraft. Ich freue mich, hier ein wenig mitteilsamer zu werden.
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copyright Jo Thoma/Detroit 20210
In an ideal world - let´s just imagine (for a split second) - we can be whatever or whoever we desire to be. So, theoretically and technically, you are a being who then has all the options there could be. Hence you create your own existence in a very individual and special way. Full stop, dream fulfilled. However (and this is always the case in this world, this "however"), choices of imagination seem to be drastically reduced when it comes to real options you could work with. How will an environment let you elevate above all possible restrictions that might evolve? When you start thinking about it, the limitations are endless all of a sudden. First of all, your time span on this earth is restricted. The culture you are born in suddenly imposes all kinds of struggles, even if the most restrictive one is only your imagination when you start looking at yourself from the outside. What is your true self (Winnicott), what is your front image, your mask (Goffman)? What is a woman, what a man? A real woman, a real man? Options sometimes are artificially created, like a matrix of opportunities which were programmed but not uploaded properly. Would you feel your privilege, or would the limitations hurt more?
How do we look at things, art forms, words, lives? Do we let them be, or do we understand how constructions and cultures form our awareness? . . .
If this is already too philosophical and too much of a conundrum, then I would want to say that such a thought might already state: Lucky you, you think it is all theoretial.
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To shorten this up, the thoughts above already tie in with a kind of review on American author, novelist and scientist Siri Hustvedt, whose work I absolutely admire. Her combination of neuroscientist, neuropsychonalist, psychological and sociological theories as well as philosophical and personal standpoints within the narratives of self/selves and the construction of this, is what I find so fascinating. As a literary scholar, I say how Siri Hustvedt is one of the most intellectual and clever novelists I know (I only know a few, there is much more to learn), and admire her work. As a human being, and woman (guess what!) I understand what Hustvedt opens up in this novel: How culture imposes its narratives on us, but that we can also - so I hope at least - write back and create our own narratives.
My knowledge is limited, my curiousness is endless. With literature I can dive into worlds outside my world and can make those universes mine. What a force we can embrace. This, I would love to end this short rant, is what releases the power. And this is the most fascinating force human beings have. Let´s embrace it.
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Novel by Siri Hustvedt "The Blazing World" about artist Harriet Burden (name!) and her life as an artist. Or do we only have illusions of such a life, along all sorts of narratives we read. About Harriet Burden. But who is this artist really? "A polyphonic tour de force", the book cover says. And truly so. About how we perceive the world and limit it at the same time. Revealing, complex and gripping.
Welcome to my blog "EcoPsychon" which will be about literature, film, art and everything relevant to me. These blogposts may contain reviews of films, any kind of narrative out there and art. There is no other way of not being curious about all things contemporary, floating around and maybe relevant (at least to me). Blog posts will either be in English or German. No other options available momentarily. So we will see where this will start and how it develops. I guess, only time creates the limits. As usual. Be optimistic and cheerful. Let the games begin!