“Do I dare disturb the universe?

Sock and Buskin drown in the ink

“I hold the world but as the world Gratianio, a stage where every man must play a part”
- The Merchant of Venice

Take the stage. This is the theatre of life in which we must all play a part. Whether you’re the
mother, student, or the businessman. I know that when it's my time to be a mother, I will aim
to emulate my own mother. We use the echoes of our predecessors to choose the colours
that we will paint on our masks. My mother taught me all about the cultures of the world, so I
will follow. I’ll take my speculative future children all around. Just like that time we went to
Venice. Picture a little girl - around 6 in 2011. Chubby face framed by puffer jacket hood and
hypnotised; gaze transfixed on figures donning 16th century attire and improvising. The wild
gesticulations of Commedia Dell’arte in front of me. Whilst not getting the innuendos -
Italians are the provocative type - I do remember the masks. I recall when I spied il Capitano
taking off his mask in one of the wings. The wide eyed awe and perplexion of a child
realising things are not always what they seem.

I think therefor AI am

This feeling comes back when I write. Taking off the mask - or masks I should say as the
identity is heteroglossic. Descartes reasoned ‘Cogito, ergo sum’ - I think therefor I am. I think
therefor I am many masks indeed, but how do I implement that in my work? One of the most
difficult aspects of the craft is finding that authorial voice. But as I look back, those true
voices are those of transgression and catharsis. The ones who took the masks off and
disturbed the universe. James Joyce, T.S. Eliot, Gabriel Garcia Marquez - to name a few.

Now think of the new AI writing craze. I’ve pored through innumerable articles of how writers
are basically out of their jobs. However AI is just regurgitation. It produces writing yes, but
with the guise of creativity. Now I must create a manifesto in favour of the chorus. The
Chorus in Greek plays consisted of a collection of singers who would sing to the crowd to
summarise the act. For the illiterate members in the crowd it was implemented to teach,
edify, and transgress as well. Transgress as the playwright gave his commentary. Later on,
Shakespeare, we love Shakespeare. His chorus was homogenised into a singular character.
The intelligent, who could cut through the chaos and noise on the stage. Think of Emilia in
‘Othello’, or the Fool in ‘King Lear.’ They were the mouthpiece of his social commentary. At
the start of the echo was the plural of the Greek, then the singular in Shakespeare, now
what? AI is at the end of the echo chamber. If you asked it to play Scaramouche, where
would its little synecdoche of itself be? The authorial voice of transgression can reach from
Pandora’s box to disturb, the chorus is the artist.

Enter Electra (stage right)

Envision you are a Greek woman in the years of B.C. and you are going to see the new play
by Sophocles. The crowd audible gasps from witnessing the infamous Electra going against
the norms of her imposing role as a woman. You feel strangely titiliased, sensations of
excitement by seeing the disturbance of society on stage. This purging of emotion into this
character creates catharsis which ultimately creates your appreciation for Sophocles.
Metanoia, fresh in your memory as you reflect that night. The audience loves a little guilty
pleasure. Life can imitate art. In example, ‘Lady Chatterley’s lover’ was prohibited from the
public as too many aristocratic ladies were eyeing their gardeners. Disturbance is the
ultimate gift of the writer. The feelings of transgression and catharsis establish your voice.
Taking down the mask and being the conductor of the choir of all those diverse identities is
magical. In the realm of the creative, transportation into alternate realities undeniably
catalyses change. Mimesis from another reality.

If you prick the artificial does it bleed? It can bleed the past, but not produce the future. Ironic
how AI has access to all the internet yet cannot access the future. The human capability to
transgress is the optical into the future. Clichè yes but be a goat not a sheep. Place a bit of
yourself in every character. Virginia Woolf, she placed Septimus as the transgressor and
those characters around as her masks. To dare to disturb the universe is delving into the
pool of creativity.

I still have the mask that we bought from our Venice trip 11 years ago. One side is painted
gold with a sun on it, the other of indigo with miniature stars and a cute crescent moon. I
place it on my face occasionally and notice how it makes my nose look sharp, eyes
upturned. But I should stop procrastinating and write my English essay. The mask obscures
the view.