Walking Corpses & Conscious Plants: Possibilist Ecologies in ...
Walking Corpses & Conscious Plants: Possibilist Ecologies in ...
Walking Corpses & Conscious Plants: Possibilist Ecologies in ...
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B<strong>in</strong>gham 103<br />
preserved, yet not entirely concluded because the work leaves room for an expansion<br />
upon topics regard<strong>in</strong>g community, consciousness, and status through modification and re<strong>in</strong>terpretation.<br />
Consider<strong>in</strong>g that the writer who would take on the task of supply<strong>in</strong>g a new<br />
storyl<strong>in</strong>e expla<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g the creature's orig<strong>in</strong>s and future endeavors saw his goal as loftier<br />
than simply obta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g commercial success, it is clear that the version of the narrative<br />
result<strong>in</strong>g from his collaboration with Bissette and Totleben performs an <strong>in</strong>tegral function<br />
of creative expression by fail<strong>in</strong>g to be satisfied with the worldviews expressed <strong>in</strong> the past<br />
and work<strong>in</strong>g to rectify them. By exam<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g the manner <strong>in</strong> which the plot has been<br />
expanded upon and re-imag<strong>in</strong>ed <strong>in</strong> the later revival of the series, I show how the work<br />
capitalizes upon a consideration for the discursive nature of art and uses this foundation<br />
as a base from which to pose important questions about counter-act<strong>in</strong>g political<br />
complacency.<br />
Paradoxically, <strong>in</strong>dividuals are <strong>in</strong>heritors of culture as well as the agents who<br />
determ<strong>in</strong>e its characteristics. From an evolutionary standpo<strong>in</strong>t, existence is wholly<br />
attributable to competition. Similarly, civilization's customs and conventions can be seen<br />
as the consequences of power dynamics which people are implicated <strong>in</strong> preserv<strong>in</strong>g and<br />
perpetuat<strong>in</strong>g. In this sense public agreement and accuracy are cont<strong>in</strong>gent as states of<br />
cause and effect; but, this is not without constant contention. Language dually functions<br />
as an <strong>in</strong>strument of creation which can claim as well as challenge; like any other<br />
representational tool, it can be used as a vehicle for expression. Whether expressed<br />
pictorially, l<strong>in</strong>guistically, or through performance, art becomes a vital tool for adaptation<br />
and survival; it transforms the personal <strong>in</strong>to the communal by provid<strong>in</strong>g an object which<br />
presents <strong>in</strong>formation demand<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>terpretation and comment. Accord<strong>in</strong>g to Scott