When the description of the Rock City has been in mostly in terms of pragmatism, it may leave the feeling the result will be as sterile as a jail cell.
However, if you strip your own pad down to the bare walls with no coverings or paneling, it's probably not going to look all that cozy either.
Even so, sterility doesn't seem to be much of a concern to people when they can create an antiseptic nightmare such as the White Room with a Black Table which looks just about as emotionally vacant as any horror you may conceive for the Rock City.
Think shag rug because sometimes you like to roll around naked on one and the White Room with a Black Table people would likely be horrified although we're not sure if they would be more shocked by the nakedness or the shag carpet.
That's so ... so ... so eighties (gasp).
In discussion since the last Rock City article, it's become all the more clear the Rock City vibe will bring too much a feeling of claustrophobia to some people. There are other concerns but generally that's the need in getting out of a city for anyone; it's just too damn close in there.
We don't want to shrink anyone since it's enough that people want different things and some won't want the Rock City ... but ... we see a growing enterprise in establishing up-scale communes in big cities and it's spreading aggressively. (CNN: Why adults are embracing communal living)
Taking that straight to one of Lotho's concerns, the people in these neo-communes are not looking for permanent residence. However, it's important seeing people getting tribal to survive as singles in the naked city, etc. The social aspect of people is something I believe is sorely lacking in modern society and when it is present we pretend it's something else.
One example of our tribalism is easy with the general class of club kids and each generation they're the most outrageous and ostensibly shocking to their elders. The club kids seek out other club kids, all of whom are arrayed in various shocking ways but they're not shocking at all to each other and, presto, they have made a tribe in which they are comfortable.
We don't need a dissertation on something you know already with bowling leagues or any number of examples. We seek that kind of tribalism fairly readily for special interests but not so much on the homefront, at least not in the suburbs, where we tend to cloister with immediate family only and a significant distance to anyone else.
The length of that distance is not negotiable with the ones concerned about claustrophobia since there has to be 'x' number of meters to the next humans or it's not a comfortable vibe. That's not really claustrophobia but you won't get better explanations from people than needing some space around them. There's nothing wrong with that but it's more than a simple preference (i.e. trying to bring a man in from the sea is hardly ever a good idea).
Ed: you're seriously wanting some kind of 'club' feeling in the Rock City?
Yes, specifically. I want as much as possible the tribal nature of people. Through all our history, that's when we feel safest and most secure.
In suburban tribes, there is some interaction but it's not too deep usually. In conversation, maybe you will start with Recent Births and Weddings. Then maybe it covers Recent Calamities and Deaths. Then, sorry, got to go. Must take my kid for soccer practice.
That ain't tribal ... that ain't nothin'.
That we try (and fail) to do it in suburbia tells me we want to get tribal ... we're just not all that good at it because we forgot how or so.
Ed: this gets more Kumbaya by the fucking minute. If there's a group hug then I'll probably vomit hideously.
Nah, this isn't about some poser crap to pretend John Lennon is still alive but rather it's being closer to people, building more trust ... you know ... tribal stuff.
The first part of getting tribal is being able to get away from it when I want. When I close the door on my pad, there's no way to get inside there without construction equipment. There's no way I can be robbed or attacked in my own pad and I've never had that kind of security anywhere I have lived. Here I am safe.
Note: plus it's decked out however I like and if I want a Tiger Orange shag carpet then, fuck it, I'm getting one laid down in there because I can.
From that solid foundation, I believe there is a much stronger basis for interaction with other people since there's much less risk any pose any overt threat unless it goes far beyond some kid climbing through a window of your pad to steal your Nintendo.
Ed: this has gone from pragmatic to Doctor Spock so will there be anything resembling reality any time soon?
This is a reality but one which is aggressively ignored in the city, much to the loss of the people in the city, I believe. Where this could get discussion-worthy is in how much it's appropriate for the RCPC, the de facto Lord of the Universe in the Rock City, to be doing toward fostering this kind of tribalism.
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