The Mirror

[version]

Borges and Baudrillard on the revenge of the mirror people feels like it could already apply to the internet, what with filters, "echo chambers" and the like. There are now millions of mirrors reflecting a distorted image that's punching through to our world.

Baudrillard's thing about objects and concepts wanting to be discovered and having a life of their own is something I think about a fair bit atm. In this case it throws into question whether there's something on the other side of the mirror or whether it's the mirror itself exerting some sort of force.

It's a bit more fantastical and metaphorical than he perhaps intended in the book, but I've read someone describe The System of Objects as an attempt to produce a bestiary of everyday objects.

 

[woops]

mirrors and childbirth are evil, etc

'its strange to think there was a time when you'd only catch sight of yourself whilst looking into a body of water.

if you were lucky you might also see yourself in the eyes of another

 

[Benny Bunter]

 

[Mr. Tea]

And one thing that struck me early on was that water was the source of the mirror-image in pre-modernity. Some places maybe had obsidian or ice (also a form of water) but by & large we're talking about ponds, streams, lakes

Tezcatlipoca - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[version]

That magical mirror of John Dee's that Wash linked to on the previous page was made in Mexico and linked to Tezcatlipoca.

 

[Benny Bunter]

Interesting how a mirror is (was, since we don't really call it that that anymore) also a 'glass' - both something that reflects back at you and also something you see through.

 

[sus]

Incans and several other Mesoamerican civilizations had pretty advanced metalworking, but we're still talking about highly developed empires in semi-recent history—def not some "natural state of man"

 

[version]

 

[Benny Bunter]

O

 

[Benny Bunter]

Alice through the looking glass

 

[version]

There's a bit in Against the Day where Pynchon talks about a Venetian mirror used as part of an illusionist's act which literally splits a person into two. The only way to undo it is to convince both of them to climb back into the cabinet.

 

[WashYourHands]

some of our oldest mirrors were bronze fwiw, extending back to the Neolithic, across various cultures

one of my favourite musical acts in Mirror name shocker

Mirror

Explore the discography of Mirror. Shop for vinyl, CDs, and more from Mirror on Discogs.

www.discogs.com

 

[Benny Bunter]

The mirror represents a portal then. If the portal remains closed, it reflects, bounces back. But it's also a potential entry point to another world where it's possible to break on through to the other side.

 

[WashYourHands]

mirrors of obsidian from Çatalhöyük

 

[WashYourHands]

The mirror represents a portal then. If the portal's remains closed, it reflects, bounces back. But it's also a potential entry point to another world where it's possible to break on through to the other side.

twin peaks bob mirror - Google Search

 

[Benny Bunter]

We don't immediately recognise the reflections a mirror shows us, they seem strange to us, which is why they're so disturbing.

It's a bit like hearing your own voice recorded.

 

[Benny Bunter]

It's you looking back at you, but it's also a strange person who is also you. Proper headfuck.

 

[WashYourHands]

 

[catalog]

The apes looking at the big black iPhone in 2001...

 

[version]

The mirrors in LOTR and The Lion King act more like screens or portals. Frodo looks into the water and has a vision, Simba looks into the water and sees the spirit of his father.

There's an enchanted mirror in the first Harry Potter too. Harry looks into it and it puts the Philosopher's Stone in his pocket.