In this 1941 reading by Jorge Luis Borges, the author brings up the topic of time & reality and questions our overall typical conception of the way time proceeds, mostly that it is not at all a linear progression. Our narrator of the story, Yu Tsun is a Chinese spy on the run from a man named Richard Madden. Through this he thinks back on his grandpa, Ts'ui Pen. The creator of the novel and labyrinth the story surrounds itself with.
I feel The Garden of Forking Paths relates heavily to our current project of a non-linear journey. Ts'ui Pen created the novel and labyrinth with the intention of every possible path forward being possible, while also being able to be chosen all at once. Every options and reality of the labyrinth is happening simultaneously in the story. While our project may not have us mapping out limitless possibilities and options, we are still guiding our users through our experience without directing them obliviously. These options are a 'complex branching network of possibility' rather than choices. How do we create a journey that allows viewers to become lost in the choices they can make?
The overall concept of time and how different people perceive reality based on their experiences can open a new door for new media artists when incorporated into their work. I thought especially designers who are communicating or constructing navigation for users through a variety of different things (websites, apps, books, buildings, etc). What happens when as an artist you are able to break down that wall of the individual "correct path"? Or how can you guide them to the same goal using a variety of options. You open the door for the viewers but their previous experiences and perception guide them through ultimately. How can we mesh the two and play on the way we react to things?
I found this article to be a lot to fully understand at first. It's a big concept and a little bit scary when you think about it too deeply. But by the end (and after some more research for a better understanding) I found the concept to be really fascinating, as well as how the author chose to convey this topic through the story of characters
Yu Tsun & Ts'ui Pen. It left me questioning how this correlates to our simple day to day life. If every single outcome or path is taken at some point in some timeline... does that make all of our choices pre-determined? Or do we still posses free-will when every reality is happening all at once? I chose to read and respond to this article in this reality, but did I truly choose or was it going to happen regardless? Again, very easy to spiral into research and questioning your reality with this story, but I found the concept and it's relation to our current project intriguing.
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