Cinemaesthesia
cinemaesthesia [from Greek, kínēsis, motion, movement, change + aísthēsis, perception, sensation] Also, cinemæsthesia, cinemaesthetic, cinemaesthetics, cinemaesthetic field. Compare with synesthesia, anesthesia. Cinemaesthesia is an expression that can be used to describe a changing field of human awareness that involves information and communication technologies (photography, film, video, audio recording, radio and television broadcasting, internet, cellular phones, etc.). The cinemaesthetic field is a third mode of the imaginal field experienced both in waking states and also when dreaming. Powers of the cinemaesthetic fieldThe cinemaesthetic field has irrupted, largely unrecognized, from the early-19th into the 21st centuries through technologies that affect perception and proprioception of change in motion. The effects of cinemaesthesia are not reducible to a singular formulation of cultural norms, social relations, or any set of identifications, categories, or comprehendings. The powers of the cinemaesthetic field exceed those of electrical transmission and encompass the combined industrial-productive outputs of global economies. These powers are greater than a calculus of capital, technological innovations, global organizational vectors of governance and political ideologies. Education in the cinemaesthetic fieldThese powers call for educational approaches that appropriate the planetary transformations that are erupting on scales without precedent in human experience. Educational errors occur in any program that diminishes the richest possible consciousness of life as we are living it. Authentic education observes the powers of the imaginal field that exceed the powers of the cinemaesthetic field. Authentic education serves with compassion the creativity of free, flesh-and-blood human beings living the convivialities and mysteries of Life at all scales and in all dimensions of proprioception, attentiveness, participation, and planetary responsibility. A discussion of cinemaesthetic field theoryLet me describe what I mean by cinemaesthetic. It’s a big word, but it’s a very big idea that I
think can be applied to all our lives as we are living them right now. Just
think of “field” like a football field or baseball field (or soccer or
cricket field). Just hold that idea of “field” in your mind and think about
it a little: the nature of that open field with nothing happening on it. What is the “imaginal field”? When most of us think of a field, we probably think “horizontally”—a surface that is perfectly flat to play on, or reasonably flat to plow. But fields are also vertical—goalposts, outfield walls, fences, stadium stands, light posts, or a farmer on a tractor spending enough time among the crop rows. So there are horizontal and vertical planes, plus there are time factors. Games occur at a particular time. There are seasons for various sports and for wheat. Still, the excitement, and the challenge, is—how is the game going to come out? Will it be a winning season? Will the crops come in? All these dimensions, then, are part of a complete “field.” Otherwise, we only have an incomplete field. We have to imagine what might happen. We could say that for all these elements there exists in
an “imaginary field,” or imaginal field. This field is vital for our survival
and includes our memories and understandings of the past and our abilities to
“fantasize” and plan possible futures. So the imaginal field is what sets the
stage for future ball seasons and theater seasons. Otherwise, eventually, we
will see no games, no shows.
John Dotson October 2009 |