Twinkling

TwinklingECF

#shortprosaicthing, #journey, #instagram, #vividness

My first dive into the Neutral revealed to me a matrix of, at least, 3 dimensions. And there are probably more, so I’ll be using the mathematical notation (i, j, k,… n) instead of the Cartesian (x, y, z), which detonates a continuum: Axis i: the ‘twinklings’, ‘traits’, ‘scintillations’ Axis j: the marginalia, des ‘traces écrites’ Axis k: the bibliographic references And then it is Barthes himself, his voice, his intimate memoirs that leak all around: The rising flour and binding substance (axis l?).

The aim of each lecture, or leg in a journey, is to examine knots, which are the essence of the journey itself. It isn’t an easy task to inspect an n-dimensional knot. You just see a bunch of threads, for a brief moment, whilst they’re being lit by the candle light of your guide, and next instant you see a completely different bunch, or nothing at all. This discontinuity is, precisely, the nature of the scintillation. To scrutinize knots some mastery is required; the help of the guide (the master) is indispensable (but you may not trust him too much, you might get lost after his next detour).

Whilst reading the Neutral, the vividness of the images; the continuous variation; the brief, disarticulated, fascicle-like storytelling; the obsession for the minutia, made me think of Instagram. I think Barthes would have been an amazing instagrammer. In fact, he would have been the master mind of Instagram. I can perfectly picture it: The 14th lecture happening in the neutral space of the app. A live stream, a guided tour around the most banal and unexpected realms of the matrix. A worldwide lecture. A total influencer.

The hyperpresent fits this kind of journey very much: present, after present, after present, the exploration is performed, a story is told. What about? It doesn’t really matter, as long as it flows. There is a sense of urgency (vitality) embedded in each miniature. Stick to this joyous dilettantism as much as you can, but don’t fear missing out. FOMO is the greatest of the mistakes: It blurs all nuance, it kills attention, and intention. It’s important that you know at least you’re diving. As soon as the speed of the scroll is faster than the speed of your synapses you’ll be lost, and the way back shall only be found in a state of flux.

Just as there are some rules, there will be homework too. The lecture would be participatory: Students would need to collaborate in outgrowing the matrix. Look at life from the corner of your eye, if something catches your attention for more than 1,5 seconds, catch it, it might come handy afterwards. A simple description will do for now. It’s fine to be shy, bored, to stutter in indecision, to observe skeptically from the back of the class, or to burst in excitement to stand out. But you will have to, eventually, refuse to believe the master, to say ‘I don’t buy that shit’, to go wrong, and to live according to it.

Then the phantasmic lecture will be finished. It will be, unfortunately, the last, but it will last forever.