1994.10.12
kidney
kidney - one of a pair of vertebrate organs situated in the body cavity near the spinal column that serves to execute urea, uric acid, and the other waste products of metabolism.
1994.10.12
metabolism
metabolism:
a. the sum of the processes concerned in the building up of protoplasm and its destruction incidental to life: the chemical changes in living cells by which energy is provided for the vital processes and activities and new material is assimilated to repair the waste - there is constructive metabolism - anabolism - and there is destructive metabolism - catabolism.
b. the sum of the processes by which a particular substance is handled (as by assimilation and incorporation or by detoxification and excretion) in the living body.
c. the sum of metabolic activities taking place in a particular habitat or environment, e.g. “complex processes of historical metabolism involving the whole range of man’s culture, social, and economic existence” - Walter Abell.
d. the second primary meaning of metabolism is metamorphosis, which means change of physical form or substance.
1994.10.14
forms of imaginations
…the whole issue of metabolism and how metabolism is a driving force behind [a] form of imagination. …the nature of possible future forms of imagination...
1994.10.18
metabolic driven imagination
…to propose and explain a metabolic driven imagination.
1994.10.22
respiration
respiration - the physical and chemical processes by which an organism supplies its cells and tissues with the oxygen needed for metabolism and relieves them of the carbon dioxide found in the energy producing reactions and which typically involve osmotic exchange between regions of greater and lessor concentration, mechanical transport in a fluid medium (as blood) and chemical storage by means of carriers (as hemoglobin) or buffers.
1994.10.27
diaphragm
The diaphragm is a fluctuating separation. As it separates it contracts and relaxes.
The diaphragm remains the ever effective mediator between the realm of metabolism and the realm of osmosis. The diaphragm is something like a two-way mirror--its movements create pressure which in turn facilitates both breathing and defecation--input vs. purge…
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1994.10.27
significance of the diaphragm
…the real significance of the diaphragm. The diaphragm is the separation, transition, and driving force between metabolism and osmosis. The diaphragm plays an important part in the purging aspect of metabolism. When the plane of the present begins to slice through the diaphragm, this represents the beginning of the end of the purge within humanity. The essential difference between metabolism and osmosis is that osmosis does not have an aspect of purging.
…the lungs (i.e. osmosis) do in fact have an aspect of purging, namely the exhaling of carbon dioxide. This could imply that after the diaphragm the purge is upward and of a single element.
This is not the only difference though because metabolism is a working with and manipulation of material (received data) and osmosis is more of a co-mingling of material - a joining and a fusing - a synthesis through togetherness rather than creation through destructive manipulation.
1994.10.27
second birth
Now I will address the role that the diaphragm plays in birth. This, of course, relates to the whole idea of pregnancy and the fact that the plane of the present passes through the area of pregnancy between the years 770 A.D. and 3090 A.D. The diaphragm occurs in the human body - the Timepiece - at the same time that the pregnancy ends and the birth occurs. This birth then occurs and coincides with the transition from metabolism to osmosis. This birth also coincides with the end of the period of major purge in humanity. In this story, it now seems even more significant that the birth of Christ coincides with the beginning of an epoch of purge and now it is clear that the second birth coincides with the end of the epoch of purge.
1994.11.17
diaphragm
…while the present is passing through the diaphragm, there is a period of transition between the digestive system (upper organs) and the lungs, a transition from metabolic imagination to osmotic imagination. This transition goes on for almost 400 years. When the transition to osmotic imagination is complete and osmotic imagination is 100%, that is when the heart enters the picture. One could say that the total osmotic imagination signals the start of the heart, the start of the pump.
1994.11.30
Piranesi, etc.
…Piranesi as a proto-metabolic thinker/designer/etc.
…what Piranesi did (especially) in the Ichnographia of the Campo Marzio was to metabolize Roman architecture. …metabolizing was exactly what Piranesi was doing, but not only in the Campo Marzio… …Piranesi's chimney pieces and candelapera as designs composed through a breaking down and re-combination of many disparate historical elements.
…the early modern movement in architecture falls in the camp of assimilation (absorption and purging), and that only in some (perhaps rare) cases did modern architecture reach the metabolic camp, e.g. Le Corbusier's late architecture is a prime example of how an architect can make the transition from assimilation to metabolism.
Piranesi's importance in history is still yet to become realized in that metabolism and a metabolizing imagination are exactly what the future holds in store. Piranesi's total influence and worth are not totally known yet…
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1994.11.30
Campo Marzio
…it seems as if Piranesi had to totally purge the site before he could venture into metabolizing the site.
1994.12.13
metabolic concurrence
…one unique factor of metabolism is that it is concurrent with both assimilation and osmosis, although all three, metabolism, assimilation and osmosis, are never concurrent. In other words, metabolism is first conncurrent with assimilation, and after a 500 year period of acting alone, metabolism is then concurrent with osmosis.
1994.12.18
The Sacred and the Profane
From The Sacred and the Profane, p.196:
"...Initiatery death reinterates the paradigmatic return to chaos, in order to make possible a repetition of the cosmogony--that is, to prepare for the new birth. Regression to chaos is sometimes literal ... This psychic chaos is the sign that the profane man is undergoing dissolution and that a new personality is on the verge of birth."
This passage introduces the idea of a death, a chaotic situation, a profane experiential that is necessary before "a second birth" A few things come to mind. One, the chaos may relate to the pluralism of the upper digestive system, and in turn, the era of metabolism may be a profoundly profane era
1994.12.18
The Sacred and the Profane
From The Sacred and the Profane, p.197:
"The scenerio of initiation - death to the profane condidtion, followed by rebirth to the sacred world, the world of the gods - also plays an important role in highly evelved religions."
This passage further reinforces, and gives another name to, the transition from metabolism to osmosis. Along these lines metabolism = profane and osmosis = sacred ("world of the gods").
1994.12.18
The Sacred and the Profane
From The Sacred and the Profane, p.201:
"From one religion to another, from one gnosis or one wisdom to amother, the immemorial theme of the second birth is enriched with new values, which sometimes profoundly change the content of the experience. Nevertheless, a common element, an invariable, remains. It could be defined as follows: access to spiritual life always entails death to the profane condition, followed by a new birth."
This is Eliade's conclusion to the topic of the second birth. Again it ties in perfectly with the Timepiece. My only reservation, thus far, is the negative idea of death, and in this case death to the profane. Is the era of metabolism really so profane, and likewise, is the era of osmosis so sacred? It is admitted simplistic to make the connection between metabolism/digestion and mundane/profane animal necessity, but are the workings of the lungs and the heart all that sacred? Or perhaps better put, are the working of the lungs and heart not also profane?
So far I do believe that there will be a great difference, on all counts, between metabolism and osmosis. And I even believe that osmosis is a positive step up from metabolism. I'm just not sure that the transition, facilitated by the dividing and functioning force of the diaphragm, that mankind will go through is actually going to be a transition from the profane to the sacred.
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1994.12.29
Patriarchs of Time
From Macey, Patriarchs of Time, p.2:
“In the subsequent pantheon of Hinduism, Varna gives way to Rudra, who (under the later name of Siva) shares with Vishnu the leadership of the gods. Rudra-Siva developes to the full of those qualities that one might expect from a powerful god of time. In the Svetarvatara Upanisad he is already involved with both creation and destruction on a cosmic scale. Later, in the Maitrayani Upanisad, Rudra’s attribute - as one who both is the author of time and transcends time - is presented in terms of the concept of Brahman: “There are two forms of Brahman, time and non-time. That which was before the [existence of the] sun is non-time and has no parts. Of that which has parts, the year is the form.””
…wonder if the dual nature of the personifications of time and the dual nature of metabolism are both related inextricably to each other, and both are manifestations of an all pervasive dualism that can not be escaped because that, to put it in simple terms, is just the way things are. What I am trying to relate is that perhaps the dual constructive/destructive nature of both metabolism and time, are primal examples of the way the system that we exist within operates… …the dual nature of a constructive/destructive nature in inevitable.
1995.01.07
chronosomatics
Duality is expressed through metabolism’s constructive/destructive nature.
1995.02.24
chronosomatics
…the kidneys is where I first found out about metabolism… …metabolism’s initiating role in the concept of a developing human imagination. The upper organs of the digestion manifest a predominantly metabolic age for mankind.
1995.02.26
chronosomatics
…the transition from assimilation to pure metabolism, and finally the coexistence of metabolism and osmosis divided by the diaphram.
…the different stages of imagination:
The ages of Highest Fertility:
Assimilation:
Metabolism:
Osmosis and Electro-Magnetism:
Osmosis and Polarity:
The Straight and Narrow:
Ultra-High Frequency
1995.02.27
chronosomatics
The full understanding of the human genetic code will occur just as assimilation comes to an end. The breaking of the genetic code is akin to mankind absorbing all the information and knowledge about himself that he/she ever can. Iterestingly, it is an era of pure metabolism that follows the genetic code breakthrough, and it is exactly this process that will be used to work with the genetic code. Metabolism, remember, is a dualistic process; it both destructs and constructs. It will be the purely metabolic imagination that will be used to manipulate and test the possibilities presented by having knowledge of the genetic code.
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1995.03.10
chronosomatics
The processes (operating systems) discussed will be assimilation, the beginning of metabolism (concurrent with assimilation), pluralism (more organs than at any other point in the body), and ultimately the completion or end of assimilation. This is the full picture of our present… …the correlation between operating systems and imagination systems…
The Future… …100% metabolism. …a large part of the coming millennium will be a time of just metabolism (albeit combined with a sense of intense pluralism). …humanity will have absorbed all the knowledge about ourselves that there is to absorb. Along with pure, 100% metabolism there will also be a continuation and intensification of plurality concurrent with this age of great destruction and great creativity.
1995.03.10
chronosomatics
The workings of embryonic development are, in fact, added on top of the current systems of assimilation and metabolism.
1995.08.07
chronosomatics
A new duality in physiology--metabolism (creation and destruction).
Enlightenment is assimilation combined with metabolism.
1995.08.08
chronosomatics architecture
…a distinction between the architecture of assimilation as opposed to the architecture of metabolism. Renaissance is assimilating. Michelangelo is metabolic, as is Baroque architecture. Piranesi is a great example of how assimilation and metabolism come together, and the early modern movement (Purism, Bauhaus) is a perfect example of the end of assimilation. I will also be able to approach the analysis of Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye and the Palais des Congrès à Strasbourg as a move (on the part of Le Corbusier’s design methodology) from an assimilation based design process to a metabolic based design project.
1995.12.12
Chapters
1. Introduction.
2a. The Renaissance: Assimilation and Architecture.
2b. Michelangelo: the First Metabolist.
2c. The Baroque and the Enlightenment: Assimilation and Metabolism Together.
3. The Metabolization of History I -- Learning from Piranesi’s Campo Marzio.
4. The Metaboization of History II -- the Architecture of K. F. Schinkel.
5. Purism as Ultimate Assimilation.
6. Towards a Metabolic Architecture.
7. Osmosis and Electro-Magnetism: an Outside Inside Architecture.
…the (as yet unmentioned) distinction between the profane modes of the imagination versus the sacred modes of the imagination. The sacred and profane division may become the overriding format…
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