Ispeys View image


On the 18th of February, Trevor and I will be lecturing at the Lopez Memorial Museum on the subject matter of “space.” While Trevor has already finished his lecture notes and visual presentation materials (and currently trying to finishing two java programs for demonstrating 4D space, among others), I am still struggling with the language of “ispeys.” ;) Although Tthere are numerous definitions of space - from ancient philosophy to modern mathematics - but the struggle that I experience has more to do with un-learning the conditionings of my education in school and through mass media, with finding my personal and ethnical articulations of “ispeys.”

By personal and ethnical articulations of space I mean perhaps a more introspective description of space. I use the term “ethnical” to refer to a primary social bond based on genetic aggregations (blood kinship); and I use the term “personal” to refer to a secondary social bond based on habitual interaction and mutual interests (as distinct from one based on origins or genetic relations). In other words, I search for both a genetic and cultural description of space - a space for relating the personal view to the larger cultural context.

The inter-flowing of kaluluwa (knowledge), ginhawa (body) and wika (language) describe the nature of the elements of buhay (life) and bisá (life force). I believe that that these three elements comprise aesthetic equilibrium, a computational process in the achievement of balance taking into account the organism, the environment and the symbolization that ensues from the fact of life and life force. Space can be identified as existing present in the organism, the environment and in symbolization. In all three instances, space may be said to be computational, a crucial process of accurate anticipation of the environment by the organism in order to ensure survival**. (A disturbance in any of the elements - i.e. sickness, environmental change, linguistic morbidity through education - reduces and corrupts survivability). And that the comprehension of space requires the anticipation of computable vectors or points in a given dimension.

Space and the organism

In terms of the organism, space is articulated in the structure of cellular networks. Rational space is known and expressed within the function and representation of highly-specialized individual cell neurons in our body. In Filipino, space - or “ispeys” - are reflections on this biological dimension. This is exressed in the concept of “pulso”* or “pulse.”

Ako -> Pulso <- Ako

In Philippine folk medicine, the pulse is considered as the outer manifestation of the inner equilibrium in the human body, connoting the idea of an “inner space.” The terms of this “inner space” are frequency, regularity and amplitude. In Tibetan buddhist medicine, there are six hot-cold binary pulse qualities:

Hot Pulse -- Cold Pulse
-----------------------
Strong        Weak
Ample         Deep
Rolling      Declining
Swift         Slow
Tight         Loose
Hard         Hollow
-----------------------


Image from paintings comprising the “Atlas of Tibetan Medicine” illustrating the seventeenth-century medical text the “Blue Beryl”: The root of diagnosis includes (left to right) visual observation, pulse reading, and questioning.***

The condition of major organs of the body are “expressed” through pulses on the radial artery at the wrist. The arteries radiate to the fingers, each finger indicating different types of pulse beats in relation to the major organs of the body:

Pulse taking is a very complex and rigorous method of diagnosis taking one year to study and over 10 years to master. Pulse taking is also very precise, comprising a computation method that can predict pregnancy, predict a person’s lifespan, predict the number of days a person with a terminal illness will live, the overall health of a person and the condition of individual organs, as well as demonic possessions.

Here, the space through which organic functioning takes place may be described as computational: Space as a precise, computable biological construction. This computation takes place internally, but not independently; feedbacks between genetic and environmental conditions provide the information for computability. The organism must be competent in computing environmental stimulus. This takes us to the second element of space: the environment.

Space and the environment

In terms of the environment, space is articulated in the interdependence between such an environment and the organism. Here, space is known in the presence of the organism in an environment comprising the spatio-temporal dimension within which the physical universe is apprehended. In Filipino, space - or “ispeys” - are reflections on this natural dimension. This is expressed in the concept of “panahón” or “time.” The all-encompassing Filipino sansinukob (universe) is the entire fabric of time and space within which the physical world exists. Time and space are nonphysical elements that bear a great impact on the physical world.

--------------
|   -----    |
|   |Ako|    |
|   -----    |
|  Panahon   |
--------------

Sa katunuyan, ang isa sa mga pakahulugan ng “ispeys” ay ang “taás at kati ng dagat”(o “tide”) at gayun din ang “laon” o ang haba ng panahon. Samantala, ang kahulugan ng salitang “laon” sa Kapampangan ay “lambát”(o “net”) na gamit sa paghuli ng isda sa karagatan. Nakatutuwang isipin na ang “karagatan” ay tumutukoy rin sa isang makata at pampanitikang laro na itinatanghal sa mga paglalalamay. Ang paligsahan ay hango sa kwento ng isang prinsesang nakawala ng kanyang singsing sa karagatan, samantala isang pagalingan sa tula at debate ang itinaguyod ng hari sa mga masugid na manliligaw ng prinsesa. Ang mag-wagi sa tula at debate ay syang tila nakapag-hanap ng singsing sa karagatan, at sya ring may karapatang pakasalan ang prinsesa. Ang “karagatan” ang pangunahin ng tradisyon ng duplo at ng bálagtasan.

In fact, “space” also translates to “taas at kati ng dagat” (literally, the “high and low tide of the sea”) and also to “laon” or “length of time.” “Laon” also means “lambat” or “net” in Kapampangan, means “lambat” or “net” that which is used for catching fish in the sea. This demonstrates the relationship between time and space - that time is linked to the order and organization of objects in space. In the meantime, “laon” It is interesting that “karagatan” or “mid-sea” also refers to:

an ancient poetic and literary game performed during wakes, based on the loss by a princess of her ring in midsea. The king makes suitors of the princess look for the ring by reciting argumentative poetry with other suitors. Whoever becomes champion in poetic debate is supposed to have successfully retrieved the ring and so is the winner of the hand of the princess, i.e. the game. “Karagatan” is the precursor of the duplo (poetical game) and the bálagtasan (poetical debate). - Diksyunaryo-Tesauro Pilipino-Ingles ni J.V. Panganiban, Lungsod Quezon, 1972.

In the organism-environment-time system, space may be described as structural, cyclical and computational: Space as a precise, computable and linguistically apprehendable bio-ecological construction. This is present in the anticipation of balance in the changing physical universe.

In pulse taking, the element of environmental time (or space-time) is very important. At night, the pulse is slower because the influence of the moon is stronger - much like the tide of the sea. In the daytime, solar energy is stronger and the pulse is faster and stronger. At dawn, the sun-moon influences are in a dynamic state of equilibrium, and therefore dawn is considered the best time for pulse reading. There is also a close relationship between pulses and the seasons in Tibetan buddhist medicine. Likewise, in Philippine folk medicine, the seasonal conditions of alangaang-papawirin (the changing pressure in the upper and lower atmosphere) reflect certain pathological effects. These changes are caused by the movement of cold (amihan or north wind) and warm (timog or south wind) metereological fronts, and diurnal and nocturnal wind oscillations within a 24-hour time span:

2400
18001600
1200

Determining the “pulse” of the environment is crucial to survival - it establishes rules relating to medicine, agriculture, travel. As “panahón” or a time-space continuum, the environment becomes “computable”, with its pulses likened to vectors or points in a given dimension. Survival rules are codified for the survival of future generations. These codifications often take on the process of symbolization, the third element in our apprehension of “ispeys.”

Space and symbolization

In terms of symbolization, space is articulated in grammars and languages. Space becomes known through linguistic conscientisation. Symbol translates to “sagisag” in Filipino, which also means “kalasag” or “shield” in Bikulano, Kapampangan and Tagalog. “Kalasag” also means “breastplate” in Sibuhanon, and more importantly, “stilts for a house” in Ivatan. In Filipino, space - or “ispeys” - are reflections on symbols and the ideological dimension. This is expressed in the concept of “wikà” or “language.”

--------------       --------------
|   -----    |       |    -----   |
|   |Ako| ---->Pulso<---- |Ako|   |
|   -----    |       |    -----   |
|  Panahon   |       |   Panahon  |
--------------       --------------

The interesting thing is that Filipino descriptions of symbolization connote not only the idea of the symbol as a static image, as in the breastplate or shield, but also the idea of structure, of the process of building, as in stilts for a house - an idea and a process that comprise the reality of space, or, to be more precise, a local knowledge of space. What is most interesting about the idea of structure, is that realities can be conjured even when they are outside the limits of human perception - that is, spaces can be defined even if they are not visible. Take for example, a painting of Taal Church by Pedro Salazar.


Church of Taal (Undated, oil on linen) by Pedro Salazar. Central Bank of the Philippines collection.

The constructional principle used in depicting the church is a self-consistent object-oriented principle. The facade of the church is drawn in its true shape and the sides represented as parallel oblique lines sloping upwards. The roof of the convent building is also depicted as a true shape. So it appears that the church building was painted with no reference to views - and understandably so, because the church could not have been viewed and painted by Salazar from such a height.What is interesting is that Salazar’s symbolization or language of space is not established solely by what he sees but is rather estalished by a series of self-consistent rules resulting to conceptual elegance in image construction.

If pulses are key to the conditions of the full and hollow organs, so too are symbols key to the full and hollow organism; the capacity to use and create symbols give a reflection of the conditions of the organism, on the survivability of the organism within a specific time-space continuum.

For instance, the fisherfolk of Laguna de Bay use cognitive maps that guide them in fishing and navigation. Landmarks such as a mountain peak and a hillside and a tree establish points of reference called “dahil.” “Dahil” are not only estalished by visible landmarks but are also often given names that attribute to local stories, making these cognitive fishing maps a reconstructive map of local histories as well.


Landmarks and “dahil” (or points of reference indicating rich fishing grounds) in Laguna de Bay. From “Filipino Worldview, Ethnogaphy of Local Knowledge” by F. Landa Jocano.

 

Within the interdependencies of organism, environment and symbolization, we can see how articulations of creative spaces are developed. These articulations are precise, explicit, rule-based and meaningful. These articulations consider language, cognition and perception as important inter-relating elements. In Filipino, these articulations are “tumpak” or precise and self-evident, in other words, they are computable.

The loss of “pagtutumpak”, of “computing”, in our language, thinking and perception is manifested in the diminishing of our capacity for understanding based on precision, rule-making, and language building. Artists make images that can mean anything, everything and nothing. Politicians promise nation-wide reforms that benefit everyone and no one. Mass media and mass education give us the skills to recognize commercial symbols and reproduce or consume them.

But we can re-claim our creative spaces. In my personal experience, this meant a tremendous amount of un-learning, of recognizing and dismantling the conditioning that I have been subjected to by this highly polluted and media-saturated environment. And one of the first crucial steps in this direction is to re-learn that process of articulating internal representations of external environmental features, of describing creative spaces, of computing constraints and diversity. This is my personal struggle, challenge and inspiration.


*With gratitude to F. Landa Jocano for his works on the Anthropology of the Filipino People and Folk Medicine in a Philippine Municipality (National Science Development Board (NSDB) 1974 National Sciene Special Award of Merit).
**With acknowledgement of work of Heinz von Foerster (1964) sponsored by the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research and U.S. National Institute of Health.
*** “The Buddha’s Art of Healing, Tibetan Paintings Rediscovered” (1998) by Avedon, Meyer, Bolsokhoeva, Gerasimova and Bradley.

In Western philosophy, two kinds of space are admitted: ideal or a priori space; and real or physical space. Compounded by subjective and objective concepts of the reality of space, space have been described as such -

  1. Space is real (noumenal) receptacle, intrinsically void (Newtonian space).
  2. Space is the essence of bodily substance (Descartes) or an attribute of substance (Spinoza).
  3. Space is a mental construction due to the gradual coordination of sensations, especially of sight and motion (Berkeley).
  4. Space is an a priori form into which sensuous experience necessarily falls (Kant).
  5. Space is the logical condition of the existence of bodies - that without space, bodies cannot exist but space itself continue to exist when bodies cease to exist (Aristotle)
  6. In Eucledian geometry, we infer from our own restricted experience that space has 3 dimensions, is limited in extent in these dimensions, and has the same properties in all its parts. Its properties are defined by certain axioms and postulates.
  7. In non-Euclidean geometry, the properties of space are also defined by certain axioms and postulates but not contradicted by our limited experience. Thus, we may assume hypotheses not consistent with our experience yet build-up an equally self-consistent system of geometrical proportions (a self-consistent explanation of the phenomena of space) - which is true for his/her imagined space.