Difference between revisions of "Hypersigil"

Revision as of 21:05, 26 November 2010

Definition

Diagram of feedback loops of perception in hypersigils. Made by Klintron Finley

Klintron Finley wrote about Grant Morrison’s “hypersigil” concept as as a cybernetic phenomena [1], first mentioning how Morrison defined hypersigils:

"The “hypersigil” or “supersigil” develops the sigil concept beyond the static image and incorporates elements such as characterization, drama, and plot. The hypersigil is a sigil extended through the fourth dimension. My own comic book series The Invisibles was a six-year long sigil in the form of an occult adventure story which consumed and recreated my life during the period of its composition and execution. The hypersigil is an immensely powerful and sometimes dangerous method for actually altering reality in accordance with intent. Results can be remarkable and shocking".

-”Pop Magic” by Grant Morrison from The Disinfo Book of Lies, pg. 20. For more information, listen to Morrison’s talk from DisinfoCon.

However, for purposes of this essay, I’m only going to consider “hypersigils” as narrative works- but I do want to consider narrative beyond strictly fictional narratives. For example, one can create a narrative in a personal blog or Live Journal or their Twitter or Facebook updates. After suggesting a connection between hypersigils and cybernetics, Nabil replied: The number of ways that hypersigilism applies to the internet/cybernetics is kind of staggering when you think on it. [2] Think about something as basic as a myspace/facebook profile, the choices we make defining the online persona [3] which creates a manifest change in the offline world. [4]. The things we choose to place on the internet reflect and magnify the awareness of self to ourselves and those around us. [5]  The way I see it, the online persona, fictional self, or avatar one creates can create feedback loops to reinforce behaviors and perceptions and have a create significant “real world” changes in a person’s life over time. In the case of Grant Morrison, he was also shaping his persona in the letters column of The Invisibles, in interviews he gave, and his public persona at comic conventions.

Experiment

Klintron Finley suggests the following experiment: "After becoming familiar with the traditional sigil method, see if you can create your own hypersigil. The hypersigil can take the form of a poem, a story, a song, a dance, or any other extended artistic activity you wish to try. This is a newly developed technology so the parameters remain to be explored. It is important to become utterly absorbed in the hypersigil as it unfolds; this requires a high degree of absorption and concentration (which can lead to obsession but so what? You can always banish at the end) like most works of art. The hypersigil is a dynamic miniature model of the magician’s universe, a hologram, microcosm, or “voodoo doll” which can be manipulated in real time to produce changes in the macrocosmic environment of “real” life".