10.04
In an interesting discussion between Sian and Jen two metaphors about the nature of the lifestream were analysed: curation and automatic writing, which –for purposes of alliteration, I am sure– was dubbed chaos.
I’ve taken another look at my lifestream so far and can safely say that the concept of curation doesn’t work for me. A curator not only should be in total control of his/her material before he/she begins to “collect, combine and contextualise artefacts” (Jen) but also he/she has the ability to place these artefacts in any chronological order he/she sees fit. In contrast, we are only just beginning to get a grasp of this course block’s material and we cannot control the chronological order of our lifestream.
I find Sian’s idea of “automatic writing” less troublesome but still not appropriate, mainly because automatic writing is not a product of conscious thought and I am sure that we are all investing quite a lot of conscious thought on what should be imported in our lifestreams and what should be left out.
For me the closest metaphor is “stream of consciousness”; that’s also the first term that came to mind when I was introduced to the concept of lifestreaming. I see my lifestream as a fragmentary presentation of my thought processes during the course, one that might not initially make a lot of sense (cue “chaos”). But I hope that what initially looks chaotic, will turn out to contain concepts and patterns and connections and maybe even a core of order.
STOLEN! A stream of consciousness work by Thomas M. Little