Seeking a student.

Fetish as "sculpture" - 090727-0730j

Journal 090727-0730j Fetish as "sculpture"

moorhead/Monday

Pirsig talks about assembling a rotisserie in [PIRSIG-ZAMM.~166]. He explains that instruction manuals present only one possible procedure in assembling a device.  We tend to think that the "factory way" is what the manual presents and that it is the only plausible way to do it. This removes any creativity on our part, which is why "some assembly required" tends to be so tedious and boring.

A real craftsman is one who knows his art well enough to make numerous design decisions as he goes along rather than entirely to some preconceived plan. This is what makes him an artist.  When he starts with a blank canvas, he probably has a very good idea in his mind where he wants to go, but not necessarily how to get there. He "wings it" all along the way. The plan is the vision of the finished project. How he creates it is a function of his artistry.

Pirsig views the assembly of his rotisserie as an act of "sculpture".  Yes, for functionality he must have a clear picture of how the unit goes together otherwise it simply won't work.  But the act of assembling it is an act of sculpture.  A sculptor  "makes decisions as he goes along. For that reason he'll be absorbed and attentive to what he's doing (Flow) even tho' he doesn't deliberately contrive this. His motions and the machine are in a kind of harmony.  He isn't following any set of written instructions because the nature of the material at hand deterimines his thoughts and motions, which simultaneously change the material at hand."  (Does this sound familiar? Could this be Flow?)

The problem, he says, is that many of the things we do in life are done as if according to an instruction manual. There is no sense of creativity in putting something together-- no sense of "sculpture". We have somehow divorced art from functionality.

Look around at the buildings downtown in a big city.  The new ones are geometrical -- they reflect an age obsessed with functionality and economy. They may contain token works of art but their inherent nature is basically functionality. Art does not fit or belong here.

 Now look at some buildings that were built, say, before the 1930's. How do they differ from the more recent ones? Do we see a building created as a sculpture or for functionality?

As we build our fetish practice, how can we include "sculpture" as an inherent part of it's design?

sensuality training-130917-1705

We all love to smell good stuff, taste good stuff, feel-good stuff, etc.

Humans are, by nature, hedonistic.

The real secret to happiness through hedonism, however is to practice the "art" of sensuality.

When applied to the art of sensuality,  the skill of focus  is something that may improve with time but you will never really reach absolute perfection in. It is a practice that can last a whole lifetime.

A big part of leaning hedonistic art is the ability to concentrate -- to focus the mind -- on the sensory apparatus engaged in perceiving the smell, flavor, feel, etc. of some targeted experience.

Focusing the mind is a skill. It takes practice to develop it. it takes a great deal of personal discipline and zeal to master it. Zen monks spend years developing the skill of mental focus, of attention. This is a passion.

When applied to the art of sensuality, the skill of focus is something that may improve with time but you will never quite reach absolute perfection. It is a practice that can last a lifetime.

 

Hint: let your cat teach you!

Total Enclosure as archetypal fantasy 140106-0924

(updated 140108 2037)

Many Rubberists share a common fantasy about being completely covered in rubber from head to toe, often for extended periods. They have a compulsion to seal every bit of their body into this material, often to the point of obsession. Some envision elaborate rubber suits of latex equipped with various breathing and fluid tubes, catheters, gags, gasmasks, pumps and other devices for life support. The goal is total exclusion of all perception of the external world as much as possible to allow becoming totally immersed in the rubber fetish milieu. It is a quest for a state of deep mindful immersion, of profound absorption in an ineffable, and  transcendent altered state of consciousness often described as "RubberSpace" and which clearly has a spiritual dimension. There may even be suggestions of a mystical experience at times.

This practice is known as "Total Enclosure" (TE) and is quite common to deeper, more advanced Rubberists.  The general theme of TE is so prevalent in Rubberist fantasy literature that it is probably archetypal. 

While Total Enclosure may not be your forte, keep these two things in mind of those who practice it:  (1) It's harmless. It won't hurt or affect you. (2) the practitioners of it enjoy doing it very deeply.