Memetics and ME

The piece pictured above, Beneath of the Mask, is such a beautiful and succinct representation of my personal ideology, I may cry. This piece resonates to my eyes as a choir of angels would to the Pope's ears.

It should be of no surprise to anyone familiar with my work or interests that memetics and the blur that occurs between life and creation are a source of much interest to me. Grant me but a few precious minutes to expand on and unravel the cosmic complexity held within this portrait and hopefully explain why the vast, spiraling abyss of memetics is so intoxicating.

Pictured above is a representation of the character V from Alan Moore's work V for Vendetta (hereafter referred to as VfV). In the book, V acts as a match for the fire of revolution in a dystopian society analogous to Moore's view on Thatcher's UK. Moore's ideas on utopia (or, the lack thereof at the time which he wrote VfV) fueled the creation of VfV which, in turn, fueled the creation of V himself. V's appearance isn't coincidental. It is in based on the legend and iconography of Guy Fawkes, a man who's legend is central to the idea of a failed idea, the Gunpowder Plot, that was in fact inspired by his own ideology.

So we have Moore's creation V, who was inspired by Guy Fawkes, whose legend was birthed by a failed idea; kill the king. However, look at the moniker of Moore's character: V. V is the 22nd letter in the Latin alphabet, a derivation of numerous previous alphanumeric systems which originated from hieroglyphs, which derived from pictographic cave paintings, which were originally conceived to convey ideas from one person to another across the distance of time and space. The alphabet, and all other logoforms, come from the same basic concept: the transmission of ideas.

Not only is V the creation of Moore, based on the idea of Guy Fawkes, whose entire legacy revolved around ideology, but his very moniker is a symbol representative in the transmission of ideas, which is in fact a major driving force in the characters psyche throughout the pages of VfV. V's very purpose is to spread ideas, as is the purpose of Guy Fawkes with his failed plot, the essential use of logoforms such as his moniker, and the very profession of Moore, his creator.

But let us return to the work of art that crowns this lengthy monologue. The image of V is constructed of numerous letterforms, referring back to the characters moniker as well as acting as numerous, individual reminders to their very essence and use as logoforms. Furthermore, the alphabetical logoforms that construct this representation of the creation of Moore are also the main medium of Moore himself, and can hearken back to the ENTIRE HISTORY of language itself, which is yet another construct built to disperse the viral reproductive constructs that are ideas.

The entire portrait is built both literally and metaphorically on the quote taken from VfV: Ideas are Bulletproof. However, maybe the quote would be more precise and better served if a single word were replaced.

Ideas are Immortal.

An idea more precise, but not exact. For ideas are not only immortal, but also living, changing, evolving. Ideas and concepts are entities as much as ourselves, as they grow and change and mature just as we do. However, they never die. Not completely. Hence their immortality.

Sure, certain ideas may disappear for awhile, but they still exist somewhere, whether they are hiding in the minds of others, or wrapped up in other, similar ideas, they always exist, and they always will.

Or so I like to think...