*the
dragon’s silhouette can be seen from a distance, behind 100 clouds and black bars.*
I have always wanted to be the best version of myself
possible. At an early age, I began exploring ways to expand my mind in order to
develop a Shi that stemmed from new experiences,
reflection and self exploration.
“The Cuban Prince” my sisters used to call me,
because I was my parent’s last child and only son, the youngest of 4. Not
having to worry about much, I was left to research and explore under the
condition that I stay within the confines of the house and yard. I had Chinese shoes
and would climb up the avocado tree in order to simultaneously hide from my
parents and conduct surveillance. Unlike the Panopticon, I could not see
everyone and also appear to be present when I was not, but it freed me to oscillate, to witness the flux of the dragon, of a Shi that was functioning at home.
.
I agree with Jullien that the best representation of Shi is the dragon. It is honored because it can never be taken
alive, says Jullien of the ancient's belief towards the dragon. It is in a constant state of motion, oscillating, uninterruptible
at its optimal strength and efficacy. It is in constant search for the most
fluid path, or it creates its own path which is fluid. It’s kind of like the
act of skateboarding, or kind of NOT like the act of skateboarding.
The skateboard, in being activated, becomes a faux surfboard and the urban
topography becomes a faux ocean, complete with a navigable rigid set of ever-flowing waves. It requires
developing an optimal use of topography.
What I found even more fantastic and interesting was the concept of the two spiraling dragons. They work together rather than clash in fierce battle (something that my Western mind automates to). "The theme of two dragons intertwined, shown head to tail is common in ancient Chinese iconography and here, as Jeane-Pierre Dieny points out 'collaboration,' not 'conflict,' is most important in the symbolic relationship."
While I was investigating the dragon in Jullien’s
writing, I began to remember an idol that I had in the 80’s: Steve Caballero. I
had his “Bonite” skateboard. It had a large multicolored screen print of a
Chinese dragon on it (the dragon was his “logo”). I used that skateboard to
navigate all over Hialeah. With the help of the Metrorail, I was able to
traverse most of Miami. The Metrorail, turning and twisting like a snake in the
clouds is very dragon-like as well. It is the second dragon in the spiral, the
one that shares Shi. This period of
time in my youth was one of great exploration, and these two dragons
(skateboard and rail) functioned in harmony to position me in an optimal state
of efficacy; that of the prince who has become invisible (the avocado tree hideout attempts) Jullien states “To let
oneself be visible gives others a hold over one and puts them in control”. I was finally in control.
Of course these dragons contrast the ones described by
Jullien as having no fixed form and never materializing into permanent,
definitive shapes. The skateboard is a cumbersome bi-lateral tool and the
Metrorail was slow, smelly and not automated, not on a permanent loop. Perhaps the layering of these
contrasts is revealing something “in between” as was pointed out in another
email.
Did marketing developers, designers, engineers, Steve Caballero, etc utilize
the efficacy of the dragon to instill Shi
as fabricated multi-layered mechanisms of transport? Transport = physical, psychical,
political, commercial.
I believe so. Just like the plate
illustrations of “efficacious dispositions” (shi) of a hand on the strings of a lute, the skateboard came with a
subscription to a trick magazine with photo-tutorials, and the Metrorail lets
you know when and where it is going to move to, and how (on rails).
