COFA World

The early history of astrology is closely interrelated with the history of astronomy. Both may be studied separately, but the result may prove one-sided and one may fail to notice things of great consequence.

Fire

People with a strong emphasis of the fire element are spontaneous and impulsive, they apply their energies wholeheartedly. Their emotional response is quick and they have a lively imagination. 

Fire signs: Aries, Leo and Sagittarius Air

Airy people are quick and animated. They apply their energies in very diverse ways. They tend to intellectualize their feelings and expectations. 

Air signs: Libra, Aquarius, Gemini Water

People with a strongly emphasized water element are feeling types and are very sensitive. Their imaginative and emotional lives are deep and rich. 

Water signs: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces Earth

Earthy people react quietly and slowly. They apply themselves with endurance. Emotionally they are deeply rooted and slow to change. 

Earth signs: Capricorn, Taurus, Virgo ========================================================= Cardinal

People with an emphasis on cardinal signs have an urge to take the lead and to shape things. They are initiators and act according to their aims and goals. 

Cardinal signs: Aries, Libra, Cancer, Capricorn Fixed

People with an emphasis on the fixed signs have a desire to build on what is already there and to organize it more efficiently. They tend to preserve a "status quo" and act in response to given circumstances. 

Fixed signs: Leo, Aquarius, Scorpio, Taurus Mutable

People with an emphasis on the mutable or common signs tend to seek change and renewal. They can easily replace one thing with another and align their actions with unfolding processes. 

Mutable signs: Sagitarius, Gemini, Pisces, Virgo

Aries

Cardinal fire; ruled by Mars 

Willpower, impulsive, initiative, courage, energy, activity 

Often rushes headlong into things

The glyph represents the horns of the Ram and is an Egyptian symbol. On a more esoteric level, the symbol stands for the upward flow of spirit - as in a fountain, the Universal consciousness in its creative aspect. It can also be said to represent the sprouting of a seed, from which germination results in the tree and fruit. In its seed form it represents potentiality.

As the symbol appears to move upward, outward, then downward it signifies the ultimate sacrifice of spirit in its descent into the realms of matter.

Taurus

Fixed earth; ruled by Venus 

Sensual, pleasure-seeker, steadfast, strives for security 

Sees red when provoked for a long time

The Taurean glyph on the purely material level  of representation, appears to look like the  head of a bull, for which Taurus stands. The esoteric view however, is that the circle  represents the divine spirit, and the crescent  above the flowering, or blossoming of spirit in  that materialization process. Taurus is earthy, fixed and stubborn like the bull. Its action in the world is decisive and energy isn't frivolously diffused without purpose.

Gemini

Mutable air; ruled by Mercury 

Mental type, witty, communicative, mobile, takes pleasure in learning.

Rarely touches down

At this stage of manifestation the spirit enters the phase of duality. As thought reflects the subject - object expression of spirit, the twins become an apt symbol for the "division" of spirit, representing polarity. Within the material world or manifested state, all things oscillate between positive - negative, up - down, right - wrong, in - out etc.  Gemini therefore symbolizes this polarity.

The two vertical lines represent male and female - as division. In a sense, the act of reproduction is governed first by Gemini.

Cancer 

Cardinal water; ruled by the Moon 

Emotional type, stubborn, seeks safety and closeness 

Very much a family person

The glyph of Cancer represents the breasts of a woman. The symbolism depicts the nurturing caring qualities of motherhood. In the same way, spiritually, all the creative and loving qualities are inculcated by the symbol - which signifies the womb of time, in which all manifestation takes place.

Leo

Fixed fire; ruled by the Sun 

Glamour, generosity, organizer, the center of attention 

Likes to take the lion's part

Leo, the 5th sign, represents creativity and childbirth too. The glyph looks somewhat like a sperm cell - the beginning of life. Within the seed is the creative power of life. The early writings depicted the glyph as representing the tail of a lion, which is the emblem of the constellation.

Virgo

Mutable earth; ruled by Mercury 

Precise, differentiates, does what is necessary, utilitarian 

A critical point of view

The Virgin represents Virgo. Its glyph is comprised of three vertical lines and another crossing and joining the uppermost portions. In early mythology the goddess of grain and food, Nidaba (Egypt) was represented by Virgo, but the spiritual symbolism is much deeper. These three lines represent the powers of nature acting within the media of time and space - they are action, inertia and harmony. The additional line crossing and joining creates tension - which is the struggle of the spirit in its natural evolution. Virgo is one of the most sensitive and delicate of the Signs.

Libra

Cardinal air; ruled by Venus 

A sense of beauty and proportion, tactful, seeks balance and harmony. Sometimes hovers between the scales

At the point of Libra, Spirit is established in its material expression and ready to ascend back to its original pristine state. The symbol of Libra is balance, indicative of the equation of matter versus spirit. It is the junction point of the world and that which is beyond.                                              

Scorpio

Fixed water; ruled by Pluto 

Corrosive, passionate, piercing, extreme situations 

Frequently quarrels with the spirits he called

Though similar in shape to Virgo, the icon for Scorpio differs in that it has an arrow as an extension which points upwards. This upward energy describes the upward movement of the soul in its journey homeward, after the tremendous struggle in Libra. The sign of Scorpio is misunderstood if it is only regarded as death - for Scorpio signifies more the rebirth or regeneration of the being after the death of the ego. Scorpio is therefore the sign of spiritual initiate.

Sagittarius

Mutable  fire; ruled by Jupiter 

Free spirit, carefree, love of movement, cheerful 

Wanderlust, often seems to be elsewhere

The arrow at the end of Scorpio's glyph is now airborne and flying towards its destination is Sagittarius. The arrow points upwards, towards spiritual horizons. This ties in well with the meaning of Jupiter who is the ruler of this sign. All the spiritual and higher faculties of man become fully activated at this stage of evolution. The movement of an arrow is direct and Sagittarius too is a powerfully vital and spiritually directed energy.

Capricorn

Cardinal earth; ruled by Saturn 

Enduring, has a sense of purpose, proud, ambitious 

Can get stuck in craggy heights

The glyph of Capricorn is a complicated one and reveals the complexity of those born under its influence. Though Capricorn is a material sign, the emblem represents the influx of spiritual energy directed to material pursuits.

The "V" shape is the inversion of spiritual force and the downward and inward tucking of the arc reveals the introverted nature of that power. It is through self sacrifice, especially in work and                                   money that the Capricorn native excel. This can be transformed into spiritual benefits too.

Aquarius

Fixed air; ruled by Uranus 

Communicative, humanitarian, progressive, fraternal 

Universal spirit with occasional astonishing obstinacy

Though being an air sign - Aquarius has as its glyph the waters of life. The fluid design reveals the spiritual nature of Aquarius. It is often shown as a person pouring water from a pot. This indicates the brotherly, humane manifestation of spirit at this point. Water is cleansing and purifying and at the Aquarian stage, represents the larger  human family and a desire for group awareness and healing.

Pisces

Mutable water; ruled by Neptune 

Sensitive, compassionate, helpful, sociable 

Very adaptable, hard to get a hold on

The two semi circles are joined in the center together and represent the incoming and outgoing stages of evolution. Both are actually one and the same - being found to be the case only in the center - the Self. Pisces is the final stage of Spirit's evolution and requires complete self abnegation if the two seemingly unrelated facets of creation are to be unified.

Astrology is the study of the relation between astronomical phenomena and its influence on the lives and behaviours of human. There are many several systems of astrology adopted by different groups of people, for example, Western astrology, Chinese astrology etc.

Different from Chinese astrology, Western astrology is based upon a monthly cycle, with star signs within our constellation and the positioning of planets at the time when we were born influencing us.

The twelve monthly signs are to be believed that it represent twelve basic personality types or characteristic modes of expression. It is also divided into four elements of fire, earth, air and water, and three qualities of Cardinal, fixed and mutable.

Brandon, John. "Is technology making us less human?", Auguest 6, 2013. http://www.techradar.com/au/news/world-of-tech/future-tech/is-technology-making-us-less-human--1171002#null

Carmichael, Alexandra. "Why I stopped tracking", April 5, 2010. http://quantifiedself.com/2010/04/why-i-stopped-tracking/

Horning, Rob. "The Rise of the Data Self", January 25, 2012. https://www.tumblr.com/blog/tingyangcofa/new/text

The contemporary self could be said to be quantitative. We produce a constant stream of data that is collected, projected, and stored which determines our daily existence. To what extent has this ‘quantitative turn’ changed our understanding of self?

I had chosen this question for my assessment 1 and 2 as I was always interested in technology and how it is leading us to a better understanding of ourselves. Throughout the research and experiments with this so-called “quantified self”, I had come to realise that technology might not be as good as we thought it was, and is actually changing ourselves for the worse.

Before the quantified self movement all started, people did not rely on technologies to record and track their daily life, health and relationships. We have always relied on colour, perspective, sound, feeling, and many others to make decision and control every aspect of our life. When the fuss about self-tracking devices such as fit bit and Nike band start to be available for the public to use, we start to survey our daily life by recording information about ourselves just like how we used to write everything down on a journal before. Due to this, scientist started to get a better understanding of how our physical body functioned and people start to live a healthier life, but it has also lead to the dehumanisation of people because we are too dependent on technology to make decisions, we are losing the sensory dynamism we originally had.

Neema Moraveji, the director of the Calming Technology Lab at Stanford University also commented that "Technology makes us less human when we believe life is a rat race to be won” and “the brain as an organ whose job it is to learn through its physiochemical and cognitive senses. Without sufficient dynamism, the brain becomes focused on particular senses and inputs that are not representative of the natural world." I agree with what he says as in today’s society, we have come to see our identities as those we would like to have or that we want people to see rather than who we really are, thus losing the real authenticity of self to the virtual reality of these technologies, and transformed our existence into a game much like “The Sims”.

During my first experiment with alien method, I generated a portray of myself through an online visual project, AUTOSCOPIA, and the idea that we are being too dependent on technology that we are out of sync with reality was supported with the blurred out portray of myself, as I could not tell who I was through all the data that had been collected on the world wide web. With the following experiment, I had also realised how much data influenced our decision making skill.

For my final work, "Reality" I got my concept from what Neema Moraveji said and the virtual reality world that is slowly becoming a reality through gaming consoles such as the Oculus Rifts. Putting together a short video installation, audiences will be put into the person within the video’s perspective, audiences will be able to see their heart rate, daily calories intake, calories burned off, and steps taken etc., just like what a self-tracking device performs. But the only difference with the real life tracking devices is that the system is in control and are forcing or ordering what the person should be doing such as sleeping at the right time to get the right amount of sleep, and not overeating the recommended daily intake, this is also how I got the title of the work "Reality" in inverted commas, to emphasis on the "reality" we are living in. The video should also be on an endless loop, so the audience will feel a sense of imprisonment by the system, and is the most appropriate medium to deliver the message of people surrending themselves to technology.

Experiment 2 - Value

Experiment 1 - Alien method

Alien method is where the artist themselves do not contribute to the artwork therefore results of the artwork is out of the artist's control.