même

I posted this as a response to one of Adam's posts regarding staking your territory and being different as an artist, but then realized it's something I've been thinking a lot about lately--especially after Venice--and wanted to expand on further.

do we really have to always be making something different?

do we have to try at all to make things different? aren't we all just saying the same things in different ways, passing them through our own internal strainers, filtering out what doesn't resonate, and passing on what does?

what would happen if we started trying to say the same thing as others instead of a different thing? why not try it and see what happens? could a community of differences be born from aiming for the same?

honestly, an experience where everything is different all the time is so tiring (take this last week visiting Biennales as an example). as a society, I think we could do with a little more of la même chose.

(même//same//meme//mime//even)

meme- (According to Wikipedia) A meme (pronounced /ˈmiːm/, rhyming with "cream"^[1]) is a postulated unit or element of cultural ideas, symbols or practices, and is transmitted from one mind to another through speech, gestures, rituals, or other imitable phenomena. (The etymology of the term relates to the Greek word mimema for "something imitated".)^[2] Supporters of the concept regard memes as cultural analogues to genes, in that they self-replicate and respond to selective pressures.^[3]

More on how this relates to my biennale response later...