Ontology

When talking about the mode of being in existentialism, I start to question what is ‘being’. To understand the concept, I read some articles about ontology.

Ontology is the study of things that exist, especially things whose existence is logically entailed. In the aspect of computer art (the art form used computers as a medium to display the artwork), part of its content is unseen without the computer, but it is viewable once connected to a specific device. The art form challenges the basic tenets of traditional ways of understanding art. To take ‘’Golden Calf’’ by Jeffrey Shaw (1995) as an example, it is is a golden calf sculpture which can only be viewed when the audience uses the specific LED monitor to scan it. The LED monitor functions as a media to reveal the computer-generated golden calf in a real space. The artwork evokes the reflection on what is being. The golden calf is actually not existed and not touchable in the real world. However, we could see it with the help of a LED monitor.

Jeffrey Shaw, Golden Calf, 1995

When going back to the soul, the human spirit, we cannot see it, touch it, but certain studies prove it has weight (21 grams). Therefore, despite the fact that we do not understand its nature, we give imagination, to imagine the world after death. This is also the reason why I would like to use an unknown being (the human spirit) to criticize the current social state, which the land shortage problem still exist after we are dead.

References:

1. Benjamin, R. (2012, December 1). How Much Does the Soul Weigh?. LiveScience. Retrieved on 12 November, 2018, from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/existentialism/

2. Lopes, D. M. (2009). A philosophy of computer art (chapter 2). Routledge.