Review of Mazes by Noah

From Maze

review of Mazes in Culture: From Greeks to Geeks (Working title) 11/8/2010 - 11/9/2010 - N. Vawter

When talking about the pictures of the N and M key, we should really show a picture of them at this point, showing their dual use as letters and as graphics. (unless that's overdone everywhere else in the book!)

when it says "The continuous scrolling of the pattern, with each new line an addition to maze, makes it impossible to try to solve without pressing the STOP key, which is the Commodore 64’s equivalent of the modern ESC key, which will “break” the program.": I think of those kids playing Starcraft, counting their motion in ATM units (actions per minute), and I think that maybe some brilliant teen somewhere will be able to solve the maze in realtime. Perhaps we should leave it at "the pattern scrolls up the screen almost too fast to take in, but pausing the program (with the RUN/STOP key), allows us to attempt to follow one of the PATHS.

the picture there is marvelous, btw. I like the way it mixes the blcok pattern withthe hand scribble.

When it says "One does not look at this design and call it a “randomly alternating pattern of diagonal lines.” To do so would quickly drain the design of its mystique. One calls it a maze."

I don't think the problem is one of 'drained mystique', but rather more serious. It is very difficult to see the pattern as its constituent elements. Some people believe creativity and intelligence may be linked with being able to perceive patterns as constellations of various building-block sets, yet the maze's form and it's ideal elements rapidly seduce the viewer into the maze.

when speaking about the cultural significance of mazes, can we start to bring in some ideas about paperwork/bureacracy/law as well?

Also, at this point, we mention the "emotions," but don't mention them specifically throughout the document...

"most famously at Chartres in France. ?" Can you bring this example alive more? it's intriguing, but I need just a little bit more. mayeb a picture, but a murder to adulterous marriage might be juicier ;) Was it simply a pretty pattern at Chartres? Or did it have some history to it...?

How about mazes of paperwork (movie Brazil?)

how about mazes vs. maps? e.g. in video games, ah okay, we touch on video games, that's good, but maybe a bit earlier? Also, we should mention how computer software made heavier use of the third dimension in mazes. e.g. the transition from Castle Wolfenstein (PC Version) to Wolfenstein 3-D, at which point, 3-D mazes become dominant. But at the time of 10Print, on the C64, 3-D mazes were not yet 'mainstream'. Pac-Man, the great cultural force, and others used 2-D mazes, changing mazes periodically.

I love the last paragraph of first half of Chapter 1. Perfect 'bumping.'

The Sidebar information is great, but perhaps we could illustrate it graphically, in 'info format'. A graphic example would go a long way there. perhaps someone could start with a sketch and someone else could render it graphically? Also, since it's a sidebar, it's got more slack, and must not adhere directly to the usual rules of relating directly back to 10 Print. It might be interesting and useful if you like mazes, but not computers.

2nd half of chapter 2.

The dictionary definition opening is not as strong as some of the other writing I've seen. It might work better if the next few paragraphs really ran with it, but it really picks up with the fresher idea of "10 PRINT is, indeed, a complex work of artifice..." The Brinkelow quote is gorgeous (I love Caxtonian french-english), but we need more behind it... perhaps a woodcut of what he thought was so foolish? Maybe something that we could relate to today? Maybe endless software upgrades and computer peripherals? What are the mazes we've created, but not noticed it? What traditions were dirty? Who were the 'fols'?

paragraph starting "All mazes offer at least one path..." is almost purely a rehash of the sidebar, but the last few sentences start to take up a new idea... could be connected back to the part about the "muddled inside/outside." I think that's a strong path. you could say "maze->labyrinth->10print" because 10print is even more dissociative than the other two...

When talking about the ritual and how unlikely it is the programmer/conjurer will correctly anticipate the outcome: this would be a good time to reflect onthe possible emotions. anticipation, patience, completion, surprise, possible disappointment, then pride, and finally frustration as the maze has no start or end point. How does this extend the programmer's relationship to mazes previously experienced?

"whose walls casts the longest shadow on the mythology and the history of maze." out of control metaphor...

"Using that maze as a starting point " it's waaay to late to use that maze as a starting point... we're in the middle of the 2nd half of the chapter now! This should be a high point. Perhaps now that we're prepped from the prior parts of the chapter, we are ready to recontemplate the most famous of mazes? Maybe we're not ready yet!? I really hope that by the time people read this chapter, they WILL perceive the Minotaur differently... Who is the Minotaur in the Basic maze??? Pacman was trapped with his ghosts permanently. Only consumption or grokking freed the monsters from their sisyphean haunting, and only temporarily. Who is trapped inthe 10print maze? Do we trap ourselves?

When retelling the Minotaur myth, tense should be past. Can we say a few more adjective for Pasiphae? Just to articulate the myth and help situate it as a metaphor? Unfortunately, "slays the minotaur" has become cliche. hard to believe, but ...

"dispels the anxiety of creation" - is this a specific psychological pathology? it sounds like it may be jargon, and is badly timed... the metaphor is starting to come full circle here... let's not get sidetracked.

"captures the excitement of programming," destroys the excitement of programming. Can we steer back to an interpretation of the maze myth? Perhaps the lesson of the myth is "always take a string when you enter a maze." maybe this is good advice. I remember my mother "entered the maze" one evening, following the beginner's chapter in the smaller manual that came with the computer. She worked on it after I went to bed, when I left the computer hooked up to the TV in the living room. She said she "made color bars" and "felt like she was Wonder Woman." However, she never tried to program ever again. She never left a string to move back and forth within the maze.

" Let’s look pause for a moment" ... "before returning to our 10 PRINT programmer. " - This '50s slide show' leading (gee davy) is nowhere near as strong as at the end of the 1st half. I'm not sure if Daedalus was a real guy or not. Was he mythical? Or living, like Pythagoreas? I could google that, but I'm reading a book dammit! I dont want to hold a calculator to interpret it or look up facts.

"living history" = cliche

"But 10 PRINT has no Daedalus, not even a credited author." well we mentioend a few credited authors earlier in this chapter! myths don't have credited authors either. maybe the point is realllllly that it's a virtual artifact of a tradition, much like a clay pot, but a digital representation, in which variations reflect positions and time periods within that tradition. (might be a good time to mention 10print in other languages)

"massively productive little architect " no - i think it's a blueprint or spell or somethign to do with that ritual mentioned earlier. it doesn't design. the computer is not even the architect, the myth is the architect, the computer and screen apparatus is bricklayers. massively productive is doubly dangerous here because it has marxist connotations and we don't even want to open that can of worms here. Also "massive" is slang, it can't refer to the virtuality of the bits comprising the program/experience/ritual.

"unsolvable" - I'm sure with time, many solvable paths within it will appear. The point is that the program doesn't concern or make preparations for whether or not the maze will be solvable, nor can it detect same.

"Starting from the exterior, the 'path'" - this paragraph has too many direction words. it's like reading the google map directions and makes for nerve-wracking prose. Perhaps another picture is in order, here, but this paragraph is really an orphan. It doesn't knead out the idea very far.

"Whether myth or reality" ouch, this paragraph. talking for the first time about "wit and riddle" 10print doesn't really offer that kind of return. it offers other things, economy, distraction, metaphor, mystery, but cleverness and elegance haven't been factors at all so far. "no doubt hear the echo of the Minotaur's roar. " I thought there was no Minotaur?! so how are we hearing it roar.

Material Mazes 

"orchestrates a maze" really, it hires a horn section, librarian, rents halls, makes sure the drummer's not too drunk, and gets funded by plutocrats? How about "draws a maze." Or if we go down the "Material" route, "constructs a maze"

"Papal Bulls," wait, what are these? did we talk about them at some point? are they actually Bulls? some people like me have no foggy clue about christianity haha. Also, why are we mentioning Christian mazes in particular? Just curious. Did it come along with the Greek tradition or something? don't muslims employ maze imagery too? Did they get it from the same place as Christians?

"Drop a labyrinth on the floor of a church, and a ritual is born" hahaha it's not that simple... maze is only one component in a huge system of signs.

"Church mazes tend to be labyrinths that were walked or crawled on the path to penance," This is really interesting!

"allegorical pathways " but, this is the Material mazes chapter.

"these walkable pathways stood as paths to Christian salvation" sure they were walkable, but they were also walked. why? salvation? did the pathways stand? stand between something? who erected them? who forced ppl to walk through them?

"These labyrinths do not tell a Minoan mystery but a Paschal one." what is Paschal? It's cruel to bring it up non sequitor. Also, 'Minoan' is so obtuse.

"Their entrances typically face the western wall of the church, o" fucking fascinating! why?

""symptom of the secularization of the labyrinth idea"" -awesome!

"secular" "but of leisure" "invite ritual attitude" "tied to pagan rites"

"ponders the ghostly outlines of abandoned turf mazes: " - fascinating! Bringing shakespeare's perspective is very intriguing. Can we get just a little more on Titania here? Perhaps pulling it back to staring at the C64 screen pondering? Perhaps her emotion to the maze here involves time and the quandry of insolvability...

"As more and more secular mazes emerge alongside church and other labyrinth traditions," This makes me think I'm going to look at my window and see secular mazes spilling out of the sides of churches, overtaking the countryside. In fact, we've only heard of one secular maze so far, Titania's. What might it have been used for? What were mazes used for there? Why have a secular maze? We're curious!!!

As this section winds down, I'm impressed with the green mental imagery you'ved conjured in my mind.