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Rhizome comes from the Greek rhizoma . Rhizome is often taken as being synonymous with “root”; in botany, a rhizome is a plant structure that grows underground and has both roots (commonly, the part that grows down into the ground) and shoots (commonly, the part that grows up through the ground). The word is associated with postmodern theorists Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, who use the rhizome to describe a process of existence and growth that does not come from a single central point of origin.
In A Thousand Plateaus, Deleuze and Guattari name arborescence or the model of the tree as the paradigm for knowledge and practice in the modern Western world; in this model, a small idea—a seed or acorn—takes root and grows into a tree with a sturdy trunk supporting numerous branches, all linked to and traceable back to the original seed.
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| A Rhizomatic Structure |
The seed or acorn thus is the beginning point of a coherent organic system that grows vertically and progressively, continually sending out branches that are part of, and identical to, the point of origin.
This arborescence, they argue, is the way Western logic and philosophy has worked: in this case, Plato might be the seed and all subsequent philosophies are outgrowths of Platonic thought. Richard Giblett
Represented by Galerie Dusseldorf In the postmodern world, however, Deleuze and Guattari argue, the grand narrative of arborescence falls apart. They offer instead the rhizome or fungus, which is an organism of interconnected living fibres that:
- Has no central point;
- Has no origin, and
- Has no particular form or unity or structure.
As such, a rhizome has no centre, which makes it difficult to uproot or destroy.
One might think of a mold or fungus, which can reproduce from any cell. Postmodern culture resembles this rhizome more than the tree. a
According to Deleuze and Guattari. An example of this might be the internet, the World Wide Web, which has a rhizomatic structure. It has no point of origin, no central locus, nothing that controls or shapes or organizes it: the web simply grows.
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You can take out any link or any website (even any web browser) without damaging or changing the internet—it continues to exist without path or pattern. A COLLECTIONlutruwita might well be imagined as being 'rhizomatic' rather than some 'pyramidical cum hierarchical' structure.
Rather than belonging to 'place', arguably, it might more appropriate to imagine a COLLECTIONlutruwita as being 'invested' in lutruwitaTASMANIA's cultural realities.
Yes, this is something of a monumental paradigm shift but so too are the ways 'the world' is being called upon reimagine being in the world in the 21st C.
Nevertheless, taking Aboriginal sensibilities into account, say a lutruwitaSENSIBILITY, 'the shift' might not be incomprehensible – and it should not be unconscionable.
What might a COLLECTIONlutruwita include? Ideally everything of cultural cum scientific 'value'. Yes, quite apart from being audacious this might be regarded as an unrealistic 'ask'. However, not unlike the ways say 'a holiday' of any kind might breed unrealistic expectations, the very moment we start to wonder, 'is this going to be wonderful enough?,' it never ever will be.
Niccolo Machiavelli tells us “Never was anything great achieved without danger.”
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We might build boats of all kinds and they will all be absolutely 'safe' securely tied up next to the land. Nevertheless, that is not why boats are built! If we can imagine a COLLECTIONlutruwita as a kind of 'boat', a 'risky vessel', if it does something, goes somewhere, new things might well be discovered and put to use.
Likewise, we might profitably think about 'the cargo' a COLLECTIONlutruwita vessel, raft, barge even, might carry, to where, to whom and for why.
What might this cargo be? Well everything of 'value' that can somehow be loaded on board. Yes, that is a greedy aspiration yet thinking about it, in the 21st C there are many ways to assemble a COLLECTIONlutruwita vessel and load it to the gunnels. Then again rather than a 'one-size-fits-all' vessel a COLLECTIONlutruwita might be a kind of 'armada'. In any event, metaphorically speaking, the 'client base' is enormous as are the 'gleaning zones'.
Again, what might this cargo be? Well perhaps obviously that which earns the label 'art' along with all manner of 'cultural production', text, data however it is imagined, scientific specimens of all kinds, places even. Let us say that it needs to be eclectic and stored in diverse ways in various places. Indeed 'material' NOT HELD in 'public trust' might well be 'registered' in COLLECTIONlutruwita, thus becoming components of 'the cultural larder' – cultural property, palawa/pakana, colonial, peri-colonial, individual's intellectual property, Tasmaniana, Australiana, Pacifica, modern, contemporary, anthropological no matter what 'cultural label' it is understood by.
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That said, history has some lessons for anyone contemplating an amada. It turned out that 'strategically' the Spanish Amada was not-fit-for-purpose and worse still placed under the command of a NOBLEincompetent.
Like any vessel at sea it 'sails' in risky water all the time and an amada multiplies the risks. 'Safety' might say that the task is too big and the risks too great.
If so why have ships at all? Einstein might well have been counseled not to do his mathematics but would the world be better off or worse off?
COLLECTIONlutruwita will, whatever metaphor we use for it, needs under the 'command' of someone and there would be no utility in placing it under the command of a NOBLEincompetent.
Expertise and 'cultural literacy' is a prerequisite for any 'trusted' individual or cohort of 'trustees'.
Such people do exist but they need to be appointed NOT elected. 'Elected trustees' must be one of the greatest follies imaginable given the risk of dilettante being candidates. Some wise soul somewhere likened dilettantism to being like running through an explosives warehouse with a flaming torch. You, and the whole town might well survive, but you are nonetheless an idiot that aught not be let loose in such places – especially not in 'treasure houses'.
There are no ifs, no buts, a 'cultural warehouse' like COLLECTIONlutruwita will need a cohort of appointed 'trustees' to oversight the contents and the things that they might do for whom – when and where.
CONTEXT … CLICK HERE
THE WHAT IF FACTOR … CLICK HERE
21st CENTURY MUSING IN lutruwitaTASMANIA … CLICK HERE
SO WHAT NOW? … CLICK HERE
BY WHAT MEASURE SUSTAINABILITY … CLICK HERE
A STRUCTURE FOR COLLECTIONlutruwita … CLICK HERE
HOW MIGHT A COLLECTIONlutruwita COME TO BE … CLICK HERE
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