Phrygid Heir

Phrygid Heir

There is a long standing dichotomy in the way we as humans perceive reality. It is the appearance of a separation . A separation between sense and form,body and mind, nature and civilization,chaos and order. It is in this estuary between the flesh and the spirit that i get hot and bothered.

Like all well adjusted adults with too much education, I go straight to my toy box to vent this frustration. Here is hot and bothered of the mind, “Phrygid Heir” the story of a clone ship navigating deep space, dark matters, and nebulae of insanity told through action figures ink and plywood.

Our story starts in the middle as we relate to a loose band of brothers in search of gold rumored to lay in the heart of the fabled Bubo nebula? We observe these clones through the eyes of the one real human Among them. His name is Charles and he is sentenced to a life of corporate servitude and well honestly, farts.

Lots of gas, a by product of the innumerable clones and their incessant snacking on slices,spears,chips and puffs.

For me the Phrygian Heir story becomes an opportunity to advocate for a strategy. A strategy for dealing with the side effects of modernity and the absurd spaces we find ourselves in culturally politically,physically, and spiritually. That strategy is a developed sense of play.  With a developed sense of play we find it easier to addresses anxieties about power and labor and self identity. Ultimately “playing” allows for a low risk mental space of empowerment to construct a world view. This space becomes a space of personal agency.

It is a space where the prime directive is to explore.  It is a space where intent is intentionally unclear and potential takes precedence over predictability. It is a space defined by autonomy, an autonomous zone.

The autonomous zone is not about Self discovery with a capital S. It is putting into perspective the self within a world view cohabitating with innumerable world views.

What I like about the Phrygian Heir clone story is

It is not a narcissistic black hole event, a definition of the “Me” as a product of extreme variables. The clone story transcends the self into a lattice of liminal perspectives. Ultimately there is nothing to find. There is no there there because no matter where you go there you are.

The map is not the territory in the Phrygian Heir story. The liminal zone is notoriously mapless and inherently without discernible value. No ground to cover or territory to control. It is not a battle to be won.

Contradicting perspectives are not opportunities for conflict but trophies of compromise. Tea time with the truth leaves both parties with the most useful of stories. Truth is an autonomous zone.

When I thought about why I was attracted to this story and theses characters, I realized it was because they embodied so much potential. I like this story because I don’t know the ending. I like the story for the same reason I like the explanation of how something can be both a particle and a wave in quantum physics. The story is evolving not from an end goal, but an end in itself, from the act of just playing.

Where do I find meaning in a sea of absurdity. What is my animating force. What gets me out of bed in the morning. Do I find that motivation through my senses. Is it the prospect of a hot cup of coffee. Or is it in the realm of of the intellect and abstract forms. More than likely what animates me, what animates us as humans. is a collaboration between sense and form.  It is the warm cup of caffeine that focuses that realm of abstract forms.