Travel

Why do we travel?

In every country around the world, people play the "telephone game" when they are kids. The teacher starts by saying a message, and each player passes it on to the next. The final player says the message they received out loud, which is always completely different than the original. In this game, each person acts as a "filter" that transforms the original message, which I find to be very interesting.

In today's world, it has become possible to procure all manner of information in a timely manner--this is certainly an advantage in many ways, but perhaps not so much when thinking about the processes of change and growth.

Take Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints and Imari porcelain, for example: these facets of Japanese culture gradually made their way over to Europe via many people over long periods of time, and the people along the way created duplicates or even made new things inspired by the originals. In other words, things change and grow by passing through the filters of people and time.

Then there is travel. You visit the actual production site or factory in person, talk with the people who produce the goods, and directly apply filters within all kinds of production processes, adding your personal character in as a new "layer." This takes the place of the old growth processes based on the filters of people and time, resulting in the creation of things with new types of unique qualities. This becomes the motivation for travel itself.

Dissertation on a man with no country Vol.2

visvim Fall and Winter 2013