ITA 

 THE EDITORIAL PROJECT AND THE TWELVE WORKS

PRESENTATION - This project’s goal is to “explore” velocity and to inspire considerations about the changes that it has gone through in the past two centuries. There is no attempt to condemn nor exalt it, but to analyze it in an unusual way. The choice of the adjective “unusual” comes from a will to unite art and the thoughts of esteemed university professors. They contributed their analyses of the concept of velocity to the project, from the point of view of their own disciplines. The areas chosen may seem distant from the fine arts, but that distance disappears when the same cross-cutting subject is considered from diverse angles, especially a concept like this one, whose development is so closely intertwined with the evolution of our society.

CONSIDERATIONS - after carefully observing the metamorphosis of man’s behavior in the past two centuries, there seems to be a clear relationship between individual behavioral changes and the progress of velocity and the social dynamics it has introduced through discoveries in mechanics, technology and science. The crucial genesis of the process of “speeding up” our society coincides with the large-scale use of the combustion motor in manufacturing, transportation, communication, etc… Later, in the second half of the twentieth century, the breakneck increase in speed was spurned by the development of technology; effectively desensitizing individuals to the continuous evolution of speed. We can describe the development of speed in our civilization in three phases. The first phase, or cycle of “natural velocity” is that in which man lives simply with natural resources and exists in complete harmony with the environment. In this phase, human beings live in terms of nature’s speed, respecting the natural limits (this phase is the same for all civilizations). The second phase begins with the invention of motors. For the first time, man breaks the barrier of nature’s velocity, with the help of machines run by motors and their various applications, transforming manufacturing, transportation and communication. This change modified a balance that lasted millenniums, a balance that regulated the velocity relationship between human beings and the environment. The new phase gave birth to “mechanical velocity”. After a brief period, we plunged into the third phase, which we gained after mastering mechanical speed. It is the cycle called “absolute velocity”. With mass use of the telephone, television, internet (and digital technology in general), we pulverize the concept of “vehicle” every day. We are in the phase where “vehicle” has lost all importance. Physically moving the subject is no longer necessary. Thanks to man’s metamorphosis, which comes directly from his relationship with velocity, our historical cycle seems unique. In other words, it cannot be compared to other civilizations because it is the only one to have known first “mechanical velocity” and then “absolute velocity”. Why does contemporary man thirst so for velocity? Why doesn’t he extricate himself from this crazy race? I feel there are many reasons. Surely one reason is that man has become a cog, imprisoned in an relentless mechanism that he himself has created. He cannot free himself of it in most of the things he does; in his work, he must run to stay competitive, or in the case of employees, they must rush so as not to get fired from their jobs. And what about the people we see rushing even when it’s not necessary, like during their free time or as they explore entertaining activities, what explanation is there for that? Things are different in this case, because while velocity is brought on by a lifestyle forced on us from the higher spheres, it is still possible to refuse. I think that acquiescing to this frenetic rush even when we can avoid it, is fruit of the individual’s unconscious desire to live as much as possible, as if to exorcise his or her fear of death. I have posited my “Accordion Theory” on this subject, where the musician increases the number of folds in his instrument in order to increase the possible extension; obviously that extension could never exceed that of the length of the musician’s arms, and the probable result is merely a worse sound quality of the instrument. Once, when reflection and spirituality had an important role in society, the theme of eternal life was a part of this sphere and it was examined and explored with the canons and principles appropriate to this subject; today materialism prevails and in our attempt to control everything, the “accordion effect” appears to be an inappropriate human reaction, part of our atavistic search for immortality. Why does contemporary man thirst so for velocity? Why doesn’t he extricate himself from this crazy race? I feel there are many reasons. Surely one reason is that man has become a cog, imprisoned in an relentless mechanism that he himself has created. He cannot free himself of it in most of the things he does; in his work, he must run to stay competitive, or in the case of employees, they must rush so as not to get fired from their jobs. And what about the people we see rushing even when it’s not necessary, like during their free time or as they explore entertaining activities, what explanation is there for that? Things are different in this case, because while velocity is brought on by a lifestyle forced on us from the higher spheres, it is still possible to refuse. I think that acquiescing to this frenetic rush even when we can avoid it, is fruit of the individual’s unconscious desire to live as much as possible, as if to exorcise his or her fear of death. I have posited my “Accordion Theory” on this subject, where the musician increases the number of folds in his instrument in order to increase the possible extension; obviously that extension could never exceed that of the length of the musician’s arms, and the probable result is merely a worse sound quality of the instrument. Once, when reflection and spirituality had an important role in society, the theme of eternal life was a part of this sphere and it was examined and explored with the canons and principles appropriate to this subject; today materialism prevails and in our attempt to control everything, the “accordion effect” appears to be an inappropriate human reaction, part of our atavistic search for immortality.

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