KOYAANISQATSI

This is the commentary on what I wrote in my previous entry.Some of you out there may have seen Godfrey Reggio's 'QATSI' movies, the first being KOYAANISQATSI. 'Qatsi' is Hopi for 'life', specifically in the context of a way of life. Koyaansiqatsi translates into 'the dark life', or 'life without balance'. I started writing that piece about 4 years ago. It has seen many changes, but the basic form was always there. It is based around several concepts, the Dark Life being one of them. I don't believe in preaching and I really have nothing to preach. I'm only interested in observing. Things are either harmful or they are not, and even then, that is still an objective perception. Ultimately, I am fascinated by the notion that nothing is absolute, that if one moves into a different point of view, all that is relevant and True can become irrelevant and untrue. I see the world we live in, and the universe as a whole, as a bleak plane of existence. At the same time, it is full of fascination that is often difficult to fully comprehend. Change and uncontrollable forces are in constant motion. I think the most true thing one can really believe in is existence. We're alive, we perceive, and we know other things and happenings are out there. Daily, we see things believe as true proven false, and visa versa. I won't say yes to anything, I won't say no. The idea of "liquid" seems to have a few themes behind it. First, it relates to one way in which I would describe the universe: it is there and it is always in motion by infinite forces acting within it. Things move around, things change. Then there is the concept of how things can be different on either side of a liquid's surface. The motion of the liquid distorts and conceals that which may exist on the other side.I won't discount what might exist in the Non-real or that various realities exist. Even a superficial change of one's environment will alter one's reality, and it is entirely acceptable to me that other states of consciousness and perception exist. When I set out to write something, I try and invoke a sense of movement from the place where I'm currently standing. With this piece, I believe I have done just that. Life is never in balance, it's always moving. Challenging the pre-ordained and the refusal of belief/dis-belief is a constant force in my mind. One of the biggest differences between modern man and his ancient fore-fathers is that in today's world, we are obsessed with how and why things work the way they do. The ancients were more focused on what works and putting those things to practical use. What we call magic and ritual practices today were, then, simply psychological exercises. In the end, I think I wrote this from the perspective of a person in a sort of dream state who exists in a very static and desolate place. By casting aside his senses, he finds himself surrounded by all of the things he'd overlooked. Part of the discovery involves reaching back into the buried programming from our evolutionary fore bearers (something that was a key part of neolithic shamanism involving serpent, vulture, and other mammalian imagery).