Information/world

Dear Colleagues,
I am a visual artist who has been following your discussion over the last
year with great interest. The nature of my work does not lend itself to
being verbally encoded, so I have been more listener than speaker.
However, there is a point that I would like to request comment upon from
your various perspectives, if it should interest you.

I am just completing an exhibition of work dealing with a quotation from a
Buddhist Sutra, as follows:

?That in the world through which one, perceiving the world, arrives at his
conception of the world, that, in the order of the Blessed One, is called
the world.?

Taken out of context, (perhaps even within its original context, I don?t
know) in this English translation, such a statement can be read at many
different levels, as well as be seen as merely nonsense/non-informative.

As an artist, in this instance, my interest does not lie in scholarly
accuracy, but in the range of reactions that such a statement provokes when
thoughtfully considered. My hunch is that you, as researchers in the field
of information, would have a useful perspective on such a statement,
positive or negative. Or perhaps the statement is so obvious as to be of
no interest at all.

If one or two of you would be willing to comment briefly upon the quotation
within this forum, I would be much obliged. Your comments would be of
great value in furthering my own ?research.? If you are curious I will try
to encapsulate my project in a few JPEG files that can be attached to a
future mailing.

Gratefully,

Jim Cogswell

Jim Cogswell
Associate Professor
School of Art & Design
University of Michigan
2000 Bonisteel Boulevard
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2069
Phone: (734) 764-0397
Fax: (734) 936-0469
e-mail: jcogs@umich.edu
Received on Tue Dec 24 20:02:12 2002