the tyranny of objects
The Maaori like many indigenous people around the world believe that everything contains mauri which can roughly be translated as life-force. This includes not only what western eyes might accept as living things such as animals and trees, not to mention humans, but also rocks, mountains and water. The reasoning is elegant, since everything has been created, the creator or creative impulse must have brought each thing, animal, vegetable or mineral into existence. This fact of existence is represented by the life force.
For proof of this I hold up the following examples. You know how when you need something urgently and you know where you put it three weeks ago, and you carefully remembered where you put it. At the time of crisis you go to that position, congratulating yourself in managing to remember this precise location, and lo and behold sad item is not there, missing. Awol. Vanished, transubstantiated, whatever you want to call it. Days later, crisis averted by some other craft means, and you find yourself in that exact spot, that location you were so certain about a week before, and there unwanted, unneeded is the object of your search. It was there all along you cry to yourself, you must have been blind, a momentary, object specific blindness confounding to the doctors and never been the subject of serious medical study.
Alternatively though it is proof of the flickering light of existence secreted somewhere in all objects. It is this life force, this mauri if you will that allow things to disappear precisely when their existence is necessary, and their location is crucial. I think it is the object’s revenge. We English speakers at least have denied rocks, books, wallets and socks a subjectivity for so long they have sought retribution, and this disappearing act is the most beautiful, subtle and insidious response to our rejection.
By the way, I hear offering a prayer to St Anthony of Padua works pretty well for retrieval of lost things too.
For proof of this I hold up the following examples. You know how when you need something urgently and you know where you put it three weeks ago, and you carefully remembered where you put it. At the time of crisis you go to that position, congratulating yourself in managing to remember this precise location, and lo and behold sad item is not there, missing. Awol. Vanished, transubstantiated, whatever you want to call it. Days later, crisis averted by some other craft means, and you find yourself in that exact spot, that location you were so certain about a week before, and there unwanted, unneeded is the object of your search. It was there all along you cry to yourself, you must have been blind, a momentary, object specific blindness confounding to the doctors and never been the subject of serious medical study.
Alternatively though it is proof of the flickering light of existence secreted somewhere in all objects. It is this life force, this mauri if you will that allow things to disappear precisely when their existence is necessary, and their location is crucial. I think it is the object’s revenge. We English speakers at least have denied rocks, books, wallets and socks a subjectivity for so long they have sought retribution, and this disappearing act is the most beautiful, subtle and insidious response to our rejection.
By the way, I hear offering a prayer to St Anthony of Padua works pretty well for retrieval of lost things too.
posted by Ludovic at 2:42 PM
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