I should have started with your first post! I appreciate the definition Gesamtkunstwerk - it helps underscore what you are working through. One piece in particular I am drawing out, but there is a lot of good stuff to unpack overall:
"When I tell my story, I invite the audience into my Mandala and that is when I become the Other, a Double. The individuals who are spectators of my ‘creations’ are also the translators of my own Mandala, they resonate with different parts of myself and in return they will translate those parts into their own story to further keep it alive. "
I loved the movie "Big Fish" - back in the early 2000s. I know a number of people who hated it, but I loved it because in many ways it is a prime example of what you are talking about. If you haven't seen it give it a look sometime. I tend to gravitate towards Jung and Campbell re their notions of heroes, journeys, tales, and tropes/formulae. I think you are tapping into that too.
But I would also push a little on the "audience" piece of your formulation by saying "keep going!" There is a degree to which we can imagine our lives as a sort of performance piece or an amalgamation of different "arts" (hence Gesamtkunstwerk), but I would also push the notion that it isn't JUST a performance of a story/journey, but an ACTUAL journey. It is your own "hero's quest" so to speak. Those around you are less audience, and more bit-players. Or side-kicks. The story isn't theirs, but they aren't merely observers, they are actors IN your story, even if only in small ways.
I only watched Big Fish as a kid, so I will be rewatching it soon from the perspective and knowledge I possess now. I also gravitate toward Jung and Campbell, even Buber, and I am grateful I discovered them in my first year of college. I like to explore psychoanalysis toward the spheres of pop-culture and arts in general. I think it’s necessary to do so in order to understand ‘trends’ and ‘movements’ better (and those are concepts I attach to identity).
I agree that our Hero’s Journey is our own and nobody else, but to me the audience can also become involved in the Journey, which is why I mentioned breaking the fourth wall when necessary, and that is also where the Double comes in, it’s important to recognize the multidimensional aspect of the roles we pick. And that is where the question of signature comes in, my Journey is reappropriated as ‘mine’ through my signature, no matter how much I involve the audience throughout the process. I hope this clarifies the angle I am headed toward.
Beautifully written as always!
I should have started with your first post! I appreciate the definition Gesamtkunstwerk - it helps underscore what you are working through. One piece in particular I am drawing out, but there is a lot of good stuff to unpack overall:
"When I tell my story, I invite the audience into my Mandala and that is when I become the Other, a Double. The individuals who are spectators of my ‘creations’ are also the translators of my own Mandala, they resonate with different parts of myself and in return they will translate those parts into their own story to further keep it alive. "
I loved the movie "Big Fish" - back in the early 2000s. I know a number of people who hated it, but I loved it because in many ways it is a prime example of what you are talking about. If you haven't seen it give it a look sometime. I tend to gravitate towards Jung and Campbell re their notions of heroes, journeys, tales, and tropes/formulae. I think you are tapping into that too.
But I would also push a little on the "audience" piece of your formulation by saying "keep going!" There is a degree to which we can imagine our lives as a sort of performance piece or an amalgamation of different "arts" (hence Gesamtkunstwerk), but I would also push the notion that it isn't JUST a performance of a story/journey, but an ACTUAL journey. It is your own "hero's quest" so to speak. Those around you are less audience, and more bit-players. Or side-kicks. The story isn't theirs, but they aren't merely observers, they are actors IN your story, even if only in small ways.
Thoughts?
Thank you for your insights!
I only watched Big Fish as a kid, so I will be rewatching it soon from the perspective and knowledge I possess now. I also gravitate toward Jung and Campbell, even Buber, and I am grateful I discovered them in my first year of college. I like to explore psychoanalysis toward the spheres of pop-culture and arts in general. I think it’s necessary to do so in order to understand ‘trends’ and ‘movements’ better (and those are concepts I attach to identity).
I agree that our Hero’s Journey is our own and nobody else, but to me the audience can also become involved in the Journey, which is why I mentioned breaking the fourth wall when necessary, and that is also where the Double comes in, it’s important to recognize the multidimensional aspect of the roles we pick. And that is where the question of signature comes in, my Journey is reappropriated as ‘mine’ through my signature, no matter how much I involve the audience throughout the process. I hope this clarifies the angle I am headed toward.