Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Mersault's Indifference

Charmaine' || 最想环游的世界 says: (1:00:29 AM)
you dont get the feeling that he's really engaging with them

i think marie loved him and wanted to get married, but to him it didn't matter either way

" that evening, marie came round for me and asked me if i wanted to marry her. i said i didn't mind and we could do if she wanted to. she then wanted to know if i loved her. i replied as i had done once already, that it didn't mean anything but that i probably didnt."

charm says: (1:03:04 AM)
=\
okay. i need to find that book

+Charmaine' || 最想环游的世界 says: (1:03:45 AM)
"why marry me then?" she said. i explained to her that it really didn't matter and that if she wanted to, we could get married. anyway, she was the one who was asking me and I was simply saying yes. she then remarked that marriage was a serious matter. i said, 'no.'
she didn't say anything for a moment and looked at me in silence. then she spoke. she just wanted to know if i'd have accepted the same proposal if it had come from another woman, with whom i had a similar relationship. i said, 'naturally.' "

to me this man is strange, he feels like he has no emotion at all

charm says: (1:05:52 AM)
not a bad thing, perhaps.

+Charmaine' || 最想环游的世界 says: (1:05:58 AM)
a few of the characters (especially the religious ones, the madly religious ones) get angry at him because of this
yeah...and the truth is, he is just being honest with them
it truly doesn't matter to him whether he marries marie, or someone else, or even to marry at all
and at the end when he knows he is heading for the guillotine, he says:

charm says: (1:07:11 AM)
does all these happen before he kills the man>
(the unfeelingness)

+Charmaine' || 最想环游的世界 says: (1:07:42 AM)
"For the final consummation and for me to feel less lonely, my last wish was that there should be a crowd of spectators at my execution and that they should greet me with cries of hatred."

yes

he is always like that, doesn't talk much

charm says: (1:08:48 AM)
hm
what do you think

+Charmaine' || 最想环游的世界 says: (1:09:09 AM)
to him living is ..."you ended up getting used to everything"
at first he just seems like an unfeeling man
but he lives by what he can see, feel...what he can perceive through his senses
which is...logical
but there is no meaning to this logic
why, then, exist, if only to die?
would it really matter when and how? if death was indeed the end?

charm says: (1:11:13 AM)
i was just wondering the same thing, today
haha
why exist?
but i do not believe love is the answer.
it must not be - for then so many of us would have meaningless lives.

+Charmaine' || 最想环游的世界 says: (1:11:52 AM)
" as if a familiar journey under a summer sky could as easily end in prison as in innocent sleep"

i think so, because there are several kinds of love
whether superficial or not

disregarding religion entirely
you could live for somebody else, whether you loved them as a friend, family, or romantically
you could live for the love of material things and the sake of pride, being more so of something than others, turning life into a sort of competition that whoever has the most wins
and yet the material kind of pursuit...when they reach that point when they are satisfied that they are safely more wealthy than others, they wonder what then?

charm says: (1:14:28 AM)
just like living for someone else
if one day they should be wrested from you, leave you
or if you had to go far away

+Charmaine' || 最想环游的世界 says: (1:14:44 AM)
(but for the most of their lives, they had a sort of purpose...a self made one)

charm says: (1:14:51 AM)
then our lives would lose all meaning.

+Charmaine' || 最想环游的世界 says: (1:15:03 AM)
but lives consist of more people than that..
even a dog or a cat would suffice..if tey were the kind
but it's true
when those things end, life does lose all meaning
for me i have my faith
so

charm says: (1:16:46 AM)
should we all be allowed to find our own little meanings?

+Charmaine' || 最想环游的世界 says: (1:16:48 AM)
to an aethist life is what you make of it
yes

charm says: (1:17:01 AM)
relativism cheapens everything

+Charmaine' || 最想环游的世界 says: (1:17:04 AM)
haha!
it can
well, this is a world of free will
the only limitations are that of your own ambition and nature
unless you choose otherwise

charm says: (1:18:07 AM)
haha
sounds like you got it all sussed out (:
why are you depressed then

+Charmaine' || 最想环游的世界 says: (1:18:22 AM)
haha
umm. i am depressed because my world is tiny, and the sameness is driving me insane
this conversation is like a breath of fresh air
i want to be involved in something i want, what really drives me...

charm says: (1:19:27 AM)
now the hard part is finding out what that is
isnt it

+Charmaine' || 最想环游的世界 says: (1:19:31 AM)
rather than admin work
haha

charm says: (1:19:34 AM)
or finding a way to get there.

+Charmaine' || 最想环游的世界 says: (1:19:35 AM)
i know what it ISNT
thats a start!
haha
well

charm says: (1:19:44 AM)
well. half the battle won!

+Charmaine' || 最想环游的世界 says: (1:19:48 AM)
yes!
and no ;p
it can be quite vague

charm says: (1:20:07 AM)
sigh, i know.
i am looking for something transcendental, permanant, inspiring and above all, rescuing.

+Charmaine' || 最想环游的世界 says: (1:21:36 AM)
transcendental?

charm says: (1:22:30 AM)
haha. something above all these tiny-ness, meaninglessness and superficiality

Monday, August 27, 2007

Sound.

Click. Rustle. Breathe.

White noise. Rain on concrete.

Muffled, spattering through seeing windows.

Unheard, unfelt, alone.

Breathe. Pause for silence, which reigns.

Hollowed echoes. The distant bass.

Drumbeats, heartbeats, footsteps.

It's here.

A breath -



Sunday, March 04, 2007

Room 93: The Song

I watched as the lights changed from dim to dark, and with the siren's call echoing. I was mesmerised, eyes transfixed upon the still figure before me. It's cries were like music, and I dared not make a sound for fear of breaking the spell. Yes, it had me caught in a web of my own creation, it's heart-wrenching weeping never fading, but resonating in my heart and mind, binding me, holding me still. I could not tear my eyes from the sight. The music was like the union of the howling of wolves and the aurora, birthed in a winter cave of changing light.

To have such a sound here, within a closet of a room, behind a grungy metal door, was something more enchanting than the most magical of fantasies. The building had been unused for an age, that was for sure. It was certain that I was the first to make a print in it's dust for a long time. I was alone, save for the company of the weeping figure. In my heart I knew that even as it was alone, it had cried this way, it's heartsong forever echoing down empty corridors.

The rich sound did not match the bony frame from which it emanated from. Head in hands and naked, it sat upon an abandoned office chair. And always, always, that mesmerising sound rising from the depths. I dared not enter further than the closet's threshold. I did not want to interrupt. Though at first instinct prompted me to comfort the creature, I knew it was only an effigy. The song battered at my heart, pushing through me in it's sorrowful vibration. I almost wanted to be bound this way, by the siren song. I do not know how long I stood there, watching, listening.

Waiting.

I fancied that the figure with it's long, long legs and tumbleweed hair might turn and look at me. But no, I knew that it would not. Whether it could or not was another question entirely, as I myself was torn between fantasy and reality in this time and place. Logic told me it was not real. But something deep down in my core, the thing we call our Dream, told me that this thing drawn in black and white across a wall had a life, had a soul. And for a moment I believed it.

I forgot the musty smells, the rust, the age, the dirt, the damp. I forgot about the floor beneath my feet. About the walls around me. And the sky above my head. I could only see the ageless figure, head forever in his hands, body firmly fixed to that chair. And always, always, the changing light, and the siren song. Reaching out, I allowed myself to cross the threshold, to touch the figure on the wall. First, only an index finger had crossed that sacred barrier which I had initially refused to cross. But I was drawn to it, this pallid image and it's haunting melody. Then, the rest of my hand, my arm, my shoulder, and finally my entire self had stepped across the threshold, to meet the figure face to face.

My feet trailed a path in the dust, each step causing whirls of dust to rise and fall. Like a petrified man I walked, slowly, slowly. Though the distance between the threshold and the figure was perhaps a metre or less, the few steps I took seemed to be frozen in time. The air grew thick, and I stirred up more dust. The song went on, unwavering and strong. At last I stood before the seated image, and with an outstretched finger touched it on one bony shoulder.

A part of me that was still sentient was surprised to feel nothing but bare wall, plastered over with white paint that had begun to peel and grow black mould. The feeling of surprise jolted the rest of me awake, and the siren call slowly faded into the background. It no longer echoed in me, the spell was broken and I was free. The image was just an image, it could not hold me. I no longer felt any sorrow for this thing, a thing that had no soul but for my fancy.
I tore my eyes away from it, with a tinge of fear that it might try and bind me to it again. I felt no regret shutting the metal door and subjecting it to darkness, no regret turning my back, no regret walking away.

Only the dust listens to it's hollow cries now.


***
The first time this blog has ever featured pictures, this is written in tribute to a particular art called 99rooms which I had accidentally stumbled upon, and immediately fell in love with. Created by the four men you see below (a screen shot from the art itself), it is the fusion of photography, paintings and animation that brings the project to life.

L-R: Richard Schumann (Art Direction), Johannes Bunemann (Sound Design), Kim Koster (The artist), Stephan Schulz (Flash/ programming)

The first image above featuring the skinny man are screenshots from the game, specifically that of Room 93. Each room is special, with something to look at or do, and most of them are interactive that require you, the viewer, to click on something (or some things) in order to progress to the next room. Whether there is something to do or not is indicated by the cursor, if you play it you will know what I mean.

I don't know what this was doing on gamershood.com, but a rating of 3 stars out of a possible 10 repelled me from 'playing' the so-called game. However, prompting from my sister nudged me to discover this, which I really enjoyed (even though it can get a little creepy and morbid).

Here is the link to the flash: http://99rooms.terracontent.de/99rooms/99rooms.html

And this is where you can find more information: http://99rooms.com/info.html

For more works by Johannes Bunemann: http://www.dripdrop.de

In the flash, to view thumbnails so you can go directly to your desired room, just press and hold any key on your keyboard (I find any letter key works just fine) and select a room.

Image source: screenshots from the flash "99rooms" created by Richard Schumann, Johannes Bunemann, Kim Koster and Stephan Schulz.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

The Face.

Now let's try to hide behind the face, the face that never blinks, laughs or cries. The face that is forever young with a marble white complexion. It has no real eyes, just two black holes to look out of. Let's hide behind the face, let's go deep, deep beneath the face where the world can't find us, where it's warm, where you can hear the rush of real blood, and not the rasp of false, slithering skin, away from the glint of sheathed claws.

The world cannot touch us here.

This face is a very public face. It smiles and laughs at the right moments, and when the time comes to mourn the holes that the world thinks are eyes leak salt water. But they are not real tears, because real tears contain a pinch of Sorrow. What hides underneath has no control whatsoever over this public face, because what it wants does not agree with the public face, and thus is suppressed. Whatever hides beneath is very lonely, insecure, and very afraid that one day the protective face would be taken away, and that it would be left to be exposed to the world. It has lost it's identity to the face, and now the face is it's identity. It's name no longer exists; it is just a Lie, having lost itself in the labyrinth of rules that govern the face. Illogical, restraining rules that drive even the best minds to madness.

This madness is just barely detectable, being a fairly subtle form. It manifests itself in various ways. While maintaining a fairly normal front (noting of course that in this context, normal should be taken to mean the situation of the majority group), the persona is free to operate using several different profiles which are better known as alternative masks. However this often leads to a loss of identity. The original self, if it even exists still, can no longer be discerned from the scores of other profiles and faces that other people see. Each one is crafted uniquely, like a fingerprint, in reaction to something or someone. Each time something sparks off a new reaction, yet another facet is formed. Like The Mask. Except these can never be removed...just changed and added to. And more is not necessarily better.

The more layers, the deeper the original self hides. And the persona dies, while the mask lives on.

Saturday, January 13, 2007

I Love the Rain.

I love the rain. And rainy day type music. It's the kind you can walk around in, even when you're all alone in a dim park with a playground, the kind, you know, you can see the raindrops in the lamplight. The sad kind of music which has just one title: "Life". The kind that you listen to with big headphones, and you could do a mad dance...there's nobody to care or judge. And you feel in that little park, in that dim yellow light, all alone, you could melt away into the dark, just fade away, and nobody would know. Just the near silence that's left behind, and the little you-sized vacuum is slowly filled with more rain and dark.

And the sound, the sound of the rain.

Friday, January 12, 2007

The Night of Lies

A man walked into a masked ball. A stranger in town, he thought he might take his time to join in the local festivities. Like any masked ball, it was held in a large hall, with music and dancing. Everyone was dressed up in ornate costumes. It was a night where you could be anything you wanted to be, whether it was a character from a fairy tale or a famous historical figure. Or just take it as an excuse to be blindingly beautiful. Coloured figures whirled around the dance floor, faces all hidden behind gorgeous masks. A man could never identify his best friend by looks alone, for the entire world changed its face on this night. Everyone could dance freely, without fear that perhaps their partner was an enemy waiting with a hidden dagger or a jealous rival, because no one was recognisable by their outward appearance.

Many of those who went for the ball would spend many a day, even weeks, in advance, planning and designing their entire outfit, including elaborate headpieces that were integrated into fancy masks. Nobody would ever wear their costume twice, for it was deemed unoriginal to do so, and besides, the entire point was to be unrecognisable. Sometimes entire fortunes were spent on this attire, for the event was but one chance in the year one could play at make believe and forget themselves, a single chance to do whatever one pleased at a party and not be judged by others. Most importantly, it was the Night of Lies, so named for obvious reasons, the only chance in the year to fake things, to lie, and get away with it. Anybody could attend, so long as they had a costume and an invitation which could be procured, very simply, from people handing them out on the streets and in the taverns or inns.

Greeted at the door by an attendant with the head of a donkey, the man was asked to produce his invitation. When presented with it, the attendant could not help but compliment, "Sir! What a mask! What an exquisite thing! What skill, what thought must have gone into such an item." All the man could say in reply was a 'But', for the next moment a beautiful creature with a cat's face whisked him off in an energetic dance not unlike a waltz. Once again he was complimented for his mask. "What creativity you have put into your outfit, my friend! Such detail and wit! Ah, this is a creation that must be shared, to inspire us all to do the same for ourselves next time!" Before he could respond again with a 'But', his voice was caught by the air as the dancers switched partners in a crazy dance they called Change. Dancers would change partners when the music changed.

Partner after partner, the man was spun around the ballroom were equally eager to comment on his mask as the donkey-head and cat-face had done, and partners were changed always before he could respond, as if the music had some cruel conspiracy to never allow him to speak. Soon it became such that every drumbeat, every musical note had the intent to quieten him, as if they knew what it was he was going to say, something so terrible as to go against the ethics of such a party. But of course it was inevitable that the song should end, to allow weary dancers a drink before they rejoined the throng.

The man found himself next to Cat-Face again. The feline features stretched themselves into a grin, and a pink mouth opened to inquire, “You were about to speak before. It has been such a pleasure meeting you.” A hand extended as a gesture of social greeting. A hand taken, and promptly shaken. “I was just saying what a wonderful mask you have got on. It has the make of a great craftsman! You must have paid a great deal to have it made.” The face seemed to turn green with envy, but at once swiftly changed to reflect a grin. “You were about to say?”

“You say how wonderful my mask is. But, I am not even wearing one.”

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

The Bubble

I live in a bubble.

A bubble is not like a box, in the sense that it is round. Spherical. But. A bubble is like a box, in the sense that it is closed in. After all, it is just a sphere of air, a little atmosphere I call mine. You can see right through it, and on the surface, you can see many colours of the rainbow swirling madly.

Undoubtably, it is a bubble.

It is easy to feel claustrophobic in such a bubble. After all, there is only so much air inside it, and no way to add more. A bubble's life is short lived. Either something from the outside pops it, or the air inside leaks out and it slowly fades away, as bubbles tend to do.

Sometimes due to its incredible lightness, the bubble can drift high into the sky. But a bubble can only take so much pressure. When it gets too high internal pressure exceeds external pressure. The air is thin up there, and the bubble cannot exist under such circumstances.

And then.

I fall.

I have seen such things occur.

It is very high up, mind you, so inevitably...well, that ending is obvious.

It is a lonely life inside a bubble. There is the common misconception that we are flighty in our thoughts. No, but everyone knows that the bubble people are never truly happy. We go with the wind, and if it doesn't suit us, well, too bad then.

You can get used to living inside a bubble.

But then it depends. How long can you live inside a bubble, until the time comes for it to expire? I think, that by the time you have gotten used to bubble life such as I, that well, all you have to do is

Reach out your finger,

Like so...

And touch...

the..


bubble



.


And as I fall all I can think about are the swirly colours, dancing madly on the surface of the bubble.

They know best of all what it is like to live in a bubble.

For who knows best, than a bubble itself?

The Box

I live in a box.

It is easy to tell that it is a box because it has a cuboid shape, six faces, and lines perpendicular to each other.

It is a box.

A box with doors, windows, a floor, four walls, and a ceiling, all various colours and patterns to suit what doors, windows, floors, walls and ceilings ought to look like. You may call it a room, but I call it a glorified box. It is a box, all the same.

It is easy to feel closed in in such a box. Even with the windows and doors. You feel like you are literally boxed in, like each six faces of the cuboid are suspended in the middle of nowhere, and closed tight so there is no way out. The doors and windows are only paint, everyone can fake anything with paint nowadays. And even if you could find a way out of the box you would fall into the black nothing that surrounds it.

It is better to feel closed in everyday than to fall into black nothing. In that way, I begin to like my box. It is a solid geometrical shape of security and seclusion.

I know I am alone in my box.

Because after all, a box is still hollow inside.

And no matter what you do to it, fill it with objects, add artificial light to make it look like day, play the sounds of the outdoors, the smell of existence...it is still a box. And I am still alone.
People talk of living in bubbles. I talk of living in boxes. After all, bubbles burst eventually, or if you're underwater they rise to the surface and the little sphere of air inside is free. But in a box, you are trapped. Bubbles are aerodynamic and light, they are for the ones who still dream about a better world. But a box is not aerodynamic. It is nowhere near aerodynamic. According to one of Newton's Laws and those funny physic's diagrams, there is always friction between the box and the ground, and there is always the force keeping the box on the ground, and another that keeps the box from moving. If it moves at all, it will stop eventually.

At most, my box can rock from side to side.

It doesn't get very far.

That is because, in case you haven't realised, it is a box. And boxes cannot move by themselves. Even me, stuck here inside, cannot get this box moving.

Everyone lives in boxes, unless you're lucky enough to live in a bubble. The bubble people are not entirely happy, and that's why they dream of something better. The box people are completely content with living in an immobile box. And so they are happy. Or so they think.

Happy people are hiding something.

But not everyone knows that.

When the bubbles pop and you fall, at worst you end up with a few broken bones, and at best you get a couple of bruises. But when the box burns,

I die.