Fun Friday Resources: Doodles & Scribbles

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This week I have two oddball resources for you, and I will preface both by saying that no matter what the science or postmodern theories are behind them are, they are great strategies to STEAL FROM.

Entoptic Phenomena

This term can be confused with the opthalmic term, i.e., “floaters” and that kind of thing, so when you go googling be aware that if it’s a science journal with diagrams of the eye, this is not what you’re looking for. In archaeology, the term refers to the idea, first put forth by David Lewis-Williams, that the dots and spirals of paleolithic rock art derive from shamanic practices, specifically altered states of consciousness used by shamans.

NOTE: There is much criticism of Lewis-Williams’s theories, but none of that concerns us here. What we can use is the patterns themselves:

entoptic-imagery-lewis-williams.png

More reading on the topic here and here.

Another take on the subject is Genevieve von Petzinger’s TED talk on the recurrence of 32 patterns in paleolithic cave art in Europe. Avoiding the controversy of opthalmic/entheogenic sources, she is more interested in the fact that there must have been some meaning or purpose behind them for our ancestors to have used them repeatedly.

Even if you are one of those people who claim you have no artistic “talent,” every one of these patterns is available to you. You can doodle, right? What is stopping you from filling a page or canvas or a cave wall with these images? You might even recall that I have a project going on right now that uses these symbols. It ain’t rocket science.

Bottom line: We can’t really know why our ancestors repeatedly used these specific patterns, but what is certainly clear is that humans are first and foremost the species that MAKES THE THING THAT IS NOT.

Asemic Writing

On the other end of the scale from paleolithic symbols, we have the postmodern asemic writing. Rather than search for meaning in abstractions, asemic writing deliberately expunges meaning from abstract patterns that tease our brains into thinking they are some kind of communication.

For example:

Postcard #14: Do you remember what it was like not to be able to read? Of course not — and similarly you won't remember what it was like not to Make the Thing That Is Not.

Postcard #14: Do you remember what it was like not to be able to read? Of course not — and similarly you won't remember what it was like not to Make the Thing That Is Not.

If you want the full-blown postmodern philosophical take on the meaningless of the meaning of asemic writing, here you go, but all you really need to know is that it is basically intentional scribbling. Some of it may look more carefully drawn than my example above, and some of it may be more deliberately “postmodern” in its intent than mine, but you get the idea.

(This post has a great list of search terms for more examples. I have personally admired Cy Twombly’s work for decades.)

So there you go: STEAL FROM THE BEST, whether it is from our ancestors of 30,000 years ago, or the oh-so-hip postmodernists of today. And look — it’s just doodling and scribbling. You can do that.