Sistene Chapel, virtually - and implications for worldbuilding

One of the coolest things about technology is how the internet allows you to share cultural things like music and art.  I remember the moment I first realized the potential of the internet: in 1992 or 93 when a friend showed me how you could look at the Dead Sea Scrolls online. 

Now, you can do things like see the cleaned and restored Sistene Chapel.  This is just amazing.  Thank you, Vatican Museum (Musei Vaticani) for sharing.

When you're creating your spec fic world, don't forget that your dark urban fantasy landscape can have some awesome, even joyful, sides.  Technology is not, by nature, dour; it's how you use it.

I like it when a writer shows both sides, doesn't essentially preach progress is evil.  I like it when the world is amazing and the tech is magical, even though the problems humanity faces may be the same.  Sometimes it's valuable to show the tech is neutral, just like religion should be.  Sometimes you can show it as the problem...But I think that we often see the portrayal of our technology as essentially evil like a virus that's killing its host...when the real issue is the things inside mankind that has us using this really great stuff in ways that are shortsighted and harmful.

Here's one way to look at it.  If you use the point of view that tech itself is the problem, you are painting mankind as helpless against the things it creates, like that stuff forces us to make it, use it, become dependent upon it.  But if you show the choices mankind makes to use, create or depend upon technology, and show those issues as flaws or poor choices or stubborn irrationality (or what have you) you are making a more realistic choice that has more options in terms of plot or theme.

Of course, when talking theme, a little goes a long way.  It should (mostly) all be subtext anyhow. 

If you haven't read The Silver Metal Lover  or Biting the Sun by Tanith Lee, I recommend you do so.  Ms. Lee has created two seemingly utopian societies with magic-like technology--and two protagonist who struggle to define themselves against their worlds.  You'd think that, in a world that denied you nothing and allowed you to explore any avenue, you would have a utopia...But it isn't, which is why the self-derailment of the main character's lives is so true.  Both stories pretty much exemplify my thoughts on the matter of how a writer can use gorgeous technical developments and yet show the failures, too.  These books ARE a bit theme heavy, though, which books from the 70s and 80s tended to be; but they don't quite beat you over the head. 

And, you know--perhaps my long-winded point is that future tech doesn't have to be cyberpunk depressing with cesspools of toxic waste dripping down the crumbling walls of the inner city.  It can have bunnies and butterfiles, too.  Really, though, it's better if you find a more realistic happy middle...rather like we live in here.

Which brings me back to the Sistene Chapel.  We can have really wonderful things like being able to study the art of the ages virtually, and still have cybercrime and identity theft.  There are ups and downs to tech, and we should embrace all the possibilities in our stories.  We dont' need to show them all; but a reasonably mix to make the world feel real is a good idea...don't you think?

 

Comments

[fairyhedgehog]

So now I've another book on order!

[jjdebenedictis]

Ooh, and you don't have people shushing you when you view the Sistine Chapel online!

(Which is to say, you're supposed to be quiet and respectful while you're in the chapel, but the tourists always get excited and start whispering more and more loudly. Then everybody gets shushed.)

[writtenwyrdd]

Heh. I live to flog good books.

[writtenwyrdd]

I usually go to museums by myself so it wouldn't matter with me, but what I do is to practically shove my face against the canvas in order to study the brush strokes. When you paint, that sort of thing becomes fascinating.

[jjdebenedictis]

You would need binoculars! :D All the brush strokes are pretty high up.

But it's interesting you say that--when I was in the Sistine chapel, I looked at the backside of those wooden partitions you see in the interactive display. They had the most amazing carvings of vines on them, and that's where my nose was located for several moments. I'm not a wood carver, but I was entranced by the artistry of it.

[Michael Robert Lockridge]

I appreciate the references to Tanith Lee. I checked Barnes and Noble, and requested these books in Nook book format. We shall see.

[writtenwyrdd]

Thanks for stopping by! I deleted your spammy comment on the other post, however.