Splashing is a delightful notion. A macabre one as well. It is neither, or, both, and. Adjectives rely on the concept of perspective, experience, circumstance and a myriad of other elements that would take too long to list. The concept of perception and has come up a lot in my study of Alien Phenomenology. Essentially, we as humans have a human experience. This results in the ignorance of objects’ and lifeforms,’ alienated from humans, experience in this world. These objects and lifeforms are called Aliens.
A close up image of liquid in motion. To one human the photo distracts from the source of kinetic energy, to another, it brings attention. Without any human interaction, this specific spiral and splash is unique and exists in its own world. These particles will most likely never achieve the same exact position in this lifetime and this event would have happened with my human contact by photo. Or would it? Had it not been captured would it matter? Is this event crucial to the rest of the known world? Is it the result of a playful child, or a drowning swan? One can only infer from what is shown, but the water has no feelings, or atlas feelings similar to human beings (this is merely speculation and assumption) this makes it alien: to us and everything around it. This is a display of human’s attempt to control aliens. The water is reacting, attempt to revert to its original state from a human made fountain, in a human made lake.
Now lets attempt to examine the term “Alien.” The word often sparks a conjuring of images, little green men; long, slender, slimy fingers; intelligence; spaceships; language foreign to earthlings. Aliens are often described as far from human as you can get. If this is so, why are aliens perhaps the most overtly anthropomorphized idea we earthlings have? My own experience has shown humans anthropomorphize, with no offense to humankind, isn’t this selfish? This is a human instinct to let them better understand something, but I believe that it makes everything so confusing. This tree is not blue in what I would call reality or IRL scapes (in real life); the tree was not this color, at least not to my eyes. Perhaps to another my idea of blue is different or alien. I’m pulling a Schaberg with my stream of consciousness writing but this is what the pursuit of knowledge entails, a long string of tangents, but back to the picture. The coloring and lighting of this tree (unbeknownst to anyone before this explanation) is the product of adjustment in lighting, color, and white balancing in the camera used. The photo is in its original state, but away from the lens the leaves where green. The somewhat drastic change sparked thoughts about existence. Could a camera lens be insight to the trees true form. Is the tree an other to itself? By being so is it an Alien to itself?
This visual seems simple. From one perspective there are 2 objects present: the ground and a leaf. Another perspective: The ground, leaf, shadow, sunlight, cement, pebbles etc. Theoretical perspectives have taught me to go further than the objects in sight and think beyond. Through thinking beyond, I have realized the multiple associations with this image. This image conjured up the idea of a tree, similar to how the word tree produces a sound and image in a human mind. This leaf, I’m assuming was once a component of the tree and now is alienated physically, though not conceptually. This creates a dizzying effect in my head. One conclusion about this photo: The leaf is an Alien to its surroundings, especially because it is dissimilar to the other components. This makes it the center of my focus as well by seeming unrelated, and larger, so much so that it creates a shadow causing speculation about its likely origin- a tree.
What separates humans from a water fountain? What separates a fountain from water. This image seems quite simple, but lets complicate it. This is another example of human’s attempt to utilize water for their own services. This contraption is purely to quench human beings of thirst. It has no other purpose. This reminds of an event of speculation I once had in Dr. Christopher Schaberg’s class. We spoke about object speculation. Alienating myself from this water fountain, I try to observe the speculation in this photograph, the water falls after being forced to spout out, the resistance of the button, and the rust and abrasions or the machine. Objects speculate without needing human-like thought. These objects are brought together through human intervention. The speculation of the object = its reaction to itself.
This is an image where I would like to appreciate aesthetics. Everything seems alien to me: the leaves, the tree, the branches. It is often lovely to calm one’s mind and speculate lightly. This tree can never be viewed in the same way that it is now. The circumstance one is in, the time of day, a human’s disposition, 20/20 vision, the device this image is viewed on - all of these elements are unique to every viewer (with or without this caption). Enjoy it.
Photography is a medium that utilizes light. This photo is not black and white, though it seems close. The lack of color gives this tree an eerie connotation. When examining the objects, it seems silly to associate something scary, or does it? This reverts back to perspective. The bough of the tree produces height, a common fear. The water can be terrifying to someone who cannot swim, and the lack of humans gives the implication of loneliness. By having similar fears and emotion humans can link closer, becoming less alien to each other, simply through this capture of light.
Alien Phenomenology speaks a lot about things: how things are separate from humans, what things are, and “what it’s like to BE a thing.” The word “thing” often warrants the idea of inanimate objects, but everything is a thing. Humans are things, if you choose to view it that way, and animals are things as well. So what is it like to be a duck? I believe that a duck’s experience in the world is closer on the spectrum to human experience than to a pencil. With this in mind, I also believe ducks are closer to an object’s experience. This is due to my human perspective and anthropomorphism. Animals show emotion and react to things such as harm, and loud noises similarly. This makes me wonder about the degrees of aliens. Here is something to think about: If both a duck and I have 2 eyes is the duck closer to human experience than a man with one eye? Think about it…
A window is a peculiar concept. It allows us to see through a wall and see events without contacting those events. Alien phenomenology acts as a window, trying to get people to observe and speculate without intervention. This I have found is a hard thing to accomplish. What is seen through the window is like an alien experience, we as humans can only experience from inside our heads.
Lets anthropomorphize for this next image. Chains are somewhat similar to humans. Each metal loop is separate and alien to the others in some respects like human beings remain individuals in their own bodies. Each link, however, (in this photo) is connected to the other physically and conceptual to other chain structures. This reminds me of human social structure. Humans link themselves together through relationships, physically and emotionally. Who’s to say that a chain has such a different and alien experience that human beings? One can argue that these chains are man-made, therefore a forced representation of human experience, but once again- everything relies on perspective.