#metaxy

“The distinction I am trying to make is between, on the one hand, the way in which we experience the world pre-reflectively, before we have had a chance to ‘view’ it at all, or divide it up into bits –a world in which what later has come to be thought of as subjective and objective are held in a suspension which embraces each potential ‘pole’, and their togetherness, together; and, on the other hand, the world we are more used to thinking of, in which subjective and objective appear as separate poles. At its simplest, a world where there is ‘betweenness’, and one where there is not. These are not different ways of thinking about the world: they are different ways of being in the world. And their difference is not symmetrical, but fundamentally asymmetrical.” — Iain McGilchrist

Bronze et béton.

Metaxy and The Magic City An M.F.A. Thesis Show by Kareem David Piper Kareem’s work reflects the contemporary human condition of existing in a constantly transient state. With technology making the world much more accessible, human beings are able to connect far and wide across the globe like never before. His work questions the true depth of these connections, made with people and places which are encountered only in passing. The pieces evoke a feeling of internal splitting or dislocation, and force the viewer to question how they perceive their own reality. ‘Metaxy and The Magic City’ is the artist’s Masters in Fine Art thesis show, and reflects his feelings and perceptions within various social settings and transient scenes he encounters on a daily basis here in Miami, FL. The depicted images are sourced from photos the artist has taken while riding the Miami Dade Metrorail, which is very close to the artist's studio and is itself very symbolic of the transient state that exists here in Miami. The term "Metaxy" used in the show's title refers to oscillation. An oscillation that can be seen and felt not only in the aesthetics of the artist's work, but in the cultural dynamics which exist in urban settings, whether here in Miami or the world over. The metamodern sensibility sees the world as continually in flux between the local and global, conceptual and material, irony and honesty. As Plato described Metaxy, it is the state of “betweeness.” Metamodernism is an oscillating force in and of itself. The term Meta, as relates to the artist’s work, means that is self referential. It is neither postmodern, nor is it modern. It is somewhere in between and beyond simultaneously. The metamodern view of society is one of a state of constant change, but to where only time knows! Metamodernism simply put, points out that society and the dominant cultural norms that tend to arise due to changes within each society, naturally exist in a constant state of oscillation. It is this sensibility, above all else that the artist aims to portray through his work. (via Metaxy and the Magic City 5/21/16)

Another source of Voegelin’s philosophy of consciousness (which he only developed in its full scope only toward the end of his life) was his critical reception of Husserl’s phenomenology. Voegelin rejects in it the dogmatic of intentionality. Moderns tends to reduce the experience of consciousness to an experience of objects as they are given to a “Transcendental Ego.” For Voegelin, consciousness is not only intentional but also luminous. Voegelin’s concept of luminosity points in the direct of an experience of participation of consciousness in ‘Being’ itself, through history.

Eric Voegelin, Structures in Consciousnes, Toronto, 22 November 1978

Voegelin’s philosophy of consciousness culminates in his re-appropriation of the platonic concept of Metaxy. In the Metaxy, consciousness experiences its tension toward the “Divine Ground”. The history of consciousness is the history of the attempts of consciousness to symbolize through myths or concepts the experience with the Ground and to translate it into a political order (as Plato does in the Republic). The integrality of this experience is available from the beginning of time but it is originally compact. It becomes more a more differentiated, throughout history. Plato represents a turning point, “a leap in Being” in the West, comparable though to other spiritual outbursts which took place during the Ecumenic Age (Voegelin’s own version of the Axial Age) in the geographical area comprised between Hellas and China.

Eric Voegelin, Plato and Aristotle, 1957

Eric Voegelin, Letter to Ellis Sandoz, 1971