GeekinthePink

The postmodern tour of downtown was interesting. And in a way, I thought it was fascinating how architecture had a lot of similarities with literature; namely, that there is more than meets the eye. If you read a Hemingway book you encounter pieces of his iceberg theory and you have to be vigilant for meaning—same thing for these buildings, although I don't agree with the consensus that the spike on top of the Bank of America building seemed like that of a church. To me, it was a little phallic and sadistic. But maybe that’s just me and maybe I’m just a little sick and then again, maybe I just have issues with money. Hm.

Anthropomorphism has interesting implications. By personifying a building, in theory, anamnesis is supposed to effect the obsever. Because giving an inanimate object humanistic qualities should incur feeling of some sort. But this is my dilemma—do we really see it if it is not pointed out to us? I probably would not have noticed it had Dr. Rog not mentioned it. So if we don’t notice it, is there really a point in putting it into the building? Does it do its job if we don’t notice it? Or maybe it’s like literature—not everyone notices metaphors and similes and allegory, but people who study it do. But really. In a postmodern society, does anyone even notice things are broken down into meaning for them? Or do they just accept the spoon-fed feelings with a hungry stomach and empty eyes and greedy palms?

Usually when I hear people mention downtown, it is the clubs. The dancing. The drinking. The hedonistic aspect of life. I don’t hear much about the important buildings or the libraries or the courthouse. I hear about what a great time they had or how they got wasted or who they met. This, in itself, makes me ponder what it means to live in post modernity. To pay to be in crowded buildings and to pour mind-numbing liquid down our throats and to have lights pulsating and making us feel things we normally wouldn’t feel if all these qualities were not combined. Everything is supposed to be easy, but I think it makes it harder. Harder to gauge meaning from something already deconstructed for us. Do we need a building to make us feel things or should we feel them for ourselves? I think some aptitude to derive meaning for oneself would be nice.