[Reader-list] the space interlude/8th posting

Wed Oct 31 00:06:15 IST 2007

although it needs a thorough revision, here is the
eighth one

8th POSTING

A.FOR SINGE LOADED CORRIDORS OR VERANDAH

Case A/1.: when the individual is a new-comer to the
space

For a single loaded corridor, the walker is, to some
extent, engrossed in the visual world out there. The
case will be distinguishable if the space is new to
the individual. If he is a new-comer, he will be
exploring the architectural attributes, observing
human activities there and mostly gazing at the
happenings outside the verandah. The next and the most
important thing that he will be conscious about is the
pre-planned target- the justification of his visit
to the place. He will be constantly seeking/looking
for the department/cell/classroom/room that this
verandah links to and drive him to this destiny. The
next strata of consciousness will be an agglomeration
of anticipatory thought-a futuristic projection of the
calculative, analytical mind that unorderly and
uncontrollably juxtaposes or overlaps with the
perceptual mind. This sets him to take off from the
present; the state could be extremely momentary or
will hold for considerable period. The other thought
could be related to memories-recollections; there
could be some associative elements in the space that
he perceives which triggers the memoryscape.
But these transitory frequencies and the time that it
holds cannot be put into any logical frame or any
pattern. And the stratas of consciousness will be
inseparably intermingled with each other. 

Case A/2.: when the space is not new to the individual

In this case, the individual will be well-acquainted
with the entries, exits and the spatial configuration.
So the partitions of the thought process that are
involved in the exploration of the space or
appreciating the architectural details of the space or
the route to the destiny (if the individual is quite
familiar with the space by then) will get submerged
from the surface of consciousness. The exploratory
works of the mind is moved to a sphere of mental
activity which is least sensitive and is at an almost
slept mode. More time of his journey will be spent in
the anticipatory thought or thinking the past. But,
momentarily he may be brought in to the present by
virtue of any modification or alteration in the space
at his disposal. So the exploratory tendencies or the
inclination to perceive the real is a command that
will be stimulated instantaneously as there is any
quanta modification/shift from everydays observed and
memorized spatial configuration. For me, it is the
recurrence of the same set of elements and its
correlations with other elements, for example- the
same disordered fan in the lift, the same button
numbered [3] of the lift that doesnt glow, the same
creaky sound of the shutter that opens the lift, the
same patch of discoloration over the wall in the
corridor, the similar sound of the crowd with its
similar acoustic attributes, the similar smell from
the laboratory as we pass closely to it, that shapes a
familiar space; most of the elements and its
sequential opening would appear as repetitive as the
cyclic structure of day and night. But the moment as I
find that the discolored patch is removed, the fan of
the lift is put into order, the shutter opens with a
different/distinguishable sound (identifiable from
other days), the crowd behaves in a different manner -
they could be shouting/quarrelling or speaking in a
loudness different from other days, the laboratory is
not emanating the familiar odour (>an absence of a
parameter that renders the presence of the space- a
contrapuntal perspective), I will arrive at a
conscious platform thereby seeking the modulation in
the familiarities. The transcendental eye transforms
into a navigating eye - a momentary lapse from the
subconscious trajectory. Otherwise, the repetition or
a habituated regularity of the course where the
differences between the lasting impressions are
negligible will diminish the functioning of the
conscious mind. So, after a point of time, he could
transcend to a spatio-temporal scape different from
the present perceivable world. Momentarily or for
considerable time, he could be absent-minded or
day-dreaming. So the predominance of the anticipatory
thought that which is driving him to the destination
is probably the characteristic of this case. 

Case B/1.: when the space is not new to the individual
and nobody is there in the verandah

This is more an abstract case that cannot be
deterministically stated about - the exact
psycho-pathology of these modern urban spaces when the
individual is left alone in his familiar place.  Our
minds respond, with some definite feeling, to almost
very impression emanating from another person writes
Georg Simmel, in his treatise - The Metropolis and
Mental Life. But what happens to this ever-responding
faculty of the mind when he finds no person to respond
to. Does he renounces totally from the property of
responsiveness, perhaps no (?) He perhaps begins to
interact with the space with an intensified
perception. It will be a stern cohesion of the space
with the individual; a gaze will be derived from
conglomeration/agglomeration of perception of
different elements of the space that correspondingly
correlate with a set of memories. Sometimes, a slight
modification in the spatial configuration will be
macroscopically perceived that can intrigue a set of
new emotional flow or a different form of curiosity.
The spider sitting at the intersection of the ceiling
and the wall be magnified and it will appear to
commence a non-verbal interaction with me. When I am
walking alone in a college/university verandah and am
seeing for the first time that the windows and the
doors are closed, (for I see it always open) a new
stimulation is introduced. The empty corridor along
with the closed doors and windows strongly emphasize
the magnitude of absence of people out there. Man
being a social animal, is not well conversant with
this circumstantial isolation. What could happen is a
momentary shift from his logical mind and there could
be an uncontrollable intervention of anxiety on the
basis of certain absurd anticipations. Along with
these visual differences, there is another attribute
of the space which changes subtly (subtle appears is
the change because it seldom strikes our conscious
mind)  the soundscape. Since one dominant element of
the scape and its reflections are depleted, what
strongly exaggerates is the sound that I myself make 
that could be the footsteps, the cloth-rustling,
sometimes, my breathe (if the reference level of the
environmental noise is appreciably low). I may not be
prepared for this set of acoustic differences. The
flutter sound of the footsteps will appear to me very
unnatural as I dont hear it in normal college days.
There are primarily two factors for its inaudibility 
(i) the sound remains submerged in the group
footsteps, crowd and also because of the stupendous
activities that happen out here, (ii) I
psychologically filter it out, for were bewildered by
this encompassing over-active sound elements of the
eccentric social-scape. 
So the absence of all these exaggerated sounds will
render inner upheaval of the subliminal and submerged
sounds of the surrounding. For the washing away of the
dense superficial layer of the audio-visual elements
that exist during the so-called working hours, the
feeling of isolation is intensified and the walker is
distracted to the human activities over the street.
This unconscious submission to the external part of
the verandah could be administered from a repressed
inner desire to mingle himself with the social sphere.
It could be a tendency, historically inherited from
the primitive man, that the modern man always seeks
the association of same family members
contd 

B. FOR DOUBLE LOADED CORRIDORS

Case A/1.: when the individual is not a new-comer (The
confinement and the spatial intercourse)

Here you dont walk in and embrace the space, but the
space embraces you. 
While the individual makes his long journey to the
destination through the space whose every
characteristic-bit is pre-recorded in his mind and
preceded impressions are well planted/memorized, (like
a looped movement of an electron in its orbit round
the nucleus of an atom) it doesnt consume much mental
energy anymore. Even the slightness in the differences
between the lasting impressions and the present or a
mild contrast between them doesnt extract any influx
of adrenaline flow in him. Unless it is a rapid
telescoping of changing images, pronounced differences
within what is grasped at a single glance everything
remains in the state of equilibrium. The lucid
smoothly flowing rhythm of movement and an immense
habituation of the daily user is the emotional tone of
the zone that endorses the user with an improbability
of any kind of unpleasant incident out here. Shifts
and contradictions in event that creates a crisis in
the logical deduction reckon a sudden surge in the
neurotic equilibrium. The unexpected occurrence of a
violent stimulus needs all faculties of perception, of
consciousness to be attended and also needs the
respective organs to be stimulated to neutralize this
impulse in the neurotic chain. That renders an instant
intensification of consciousness to seek the source of
the event and parallely the rational mind works on
calculability projecting a reason to the cause. Within
few moments, if the mind fails to give any reason and
throws the person in an utter confusion, he will
probably try to get rid of this space as early as
possible
.contd

thank you and waiting for your comments 

sayandeb

SAYANDEB MUKHERJEE
  FT#308, SUBBARAJU TOWERS,
  ROAD NO.4, VIJAYAPURI COLONY,
  KOTHAPET, HYDERABAD
  PIN: 500 035
  PH#9849383863

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