Sean is working on idea about city vistas. Here is a myth about towers and knowledge that is dear to my heart for some reason.
- Virgil’s tower “Somehow in the confusion of the Dark Ages, the great poet Virgil became transmuted into master Virgil, a consummate sorcerer whose magic helped the emperors rule the world. …. In Rome he was associated with every ancient marvel. Besides tales of magic talking statues and buried treasures, there was the tower Virgil built for the emperor, covered with mirrors facing every point of the compass. Whenever a province was threatened with invasion or revolt, the danger would appear beforehand, reflected in the mirrors, and the emperor would know how to deal with it.” (p77) Rome; Dana Facaros & Michael Pauls 1989.
Now, a certain kind of knowledge about what is happening in the provinces comes via the satellite dish!
The Journal of Virtual Worlds Research (http://jvwresearch.org) is soliciting "think pieces" in response to the following questions:
"In thinking about the spaces of virtual worlds, and the practices we witness within them, how can we define what counts as culture? Can we see any common cultural trends emerging in different virtual worlds, or are practices as disparate as the worlds and groups we find within them?"
From a Liverpool perspective Peter Hagerty points out that this is an apposite subject for the end of 'LC of Culture 2008'
Your thoughts?
Posted by Philip Courtenay
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