Pattern Recognition belongs to a rare breed of
books that have great intellectual depth without forcing the reader to
appreciate it in order to enjoy the story. The obvious main theme is the way individuals function in this
brave postmodern world in which cultural landscape has been cleared of any major
landmarks. Some say that the travelers' souls travel slower then the plane, causing jet lag until they
can catch up. Are souls soon doomed to grow forever lost, navigating endless catacombs of images
and soundbites, left to cling on to subcultures - those animated corpses of the national and political
alligiances of yesteryear?
But we have heard this all before, and Gibson knows it. The novel works because he handles his themes
with refreshing understatement and even subtlety. But what I found
most memorable is his comentary on art and the process of it's creation.
Spoilers ahead, beware of
spoilage!
Nora has a piece of shrapnel from a Claymore mine stuck in her head, making her completely incapable
of most normal human functions. The only way she can communicate is
through footage. She not only passively watches it, but shapes it to reflect her inner world. Nora uses
found footage - from surveilance cameras and wharever else people get such stuff.
She combines them, juxtapozing the Photoshopped image of a man from a train station with a
background of a city rooftop at night to create works of
deep emotional and aestetic apeal. There is no discernable plot; in fact, Nora habitually edits her own
work with very liberal minimalism. In the end, all superfluous footage cut, only a single frame or part
of a frame will remain, completing the masterpiece.
Even a brief overview of great literature shows the effectiveness of the metaphor. For example,
Dante's masterpiece consists of a great many references and allegories to earlier works, yet a
powerful common vision give them new life through fresh context. It's as if there is an ongoing narrative, all the works and thoughts of every
artist echoing through each other across both time and space, criticisms of criticisms surpassing the original in greatness and depth. And life, the medium with the fewest restrictions, is especially not immune:
"Transformation - taking the raw materials of your life, making
small and large changes to turn what you know into fictional material. Transformation gives you power over
events - life is disorganized, here you impose order; it protects you... gives you power
over your story."
Kit Reed
Creative plundering behind her, the true artist kills her masterpiece, cutting
away all the showy excesses to reveal the tiny, naked grain of truth within.
It is unclear if Gibson intends to reflect the artists' creative processes in general
or to show the future of our creative culture. Musicians all over the world mix
others' works to create entirely new pieces (think The Grey Album and The Go! Team.) The trend will certaintly continue as a new generation that routinely combines found elements from many different mediums evolves. Either way, the
vision of a woman alone in a dark room capable of focusing her eyes and mind only on the radiating screen
will possibly never leave me.