Muindi F Muindi, On World-Making

Part I from

Muindi F Muindi

The artist makes sensations in a given world — the artist composes sights (visual sensations), sounds (aural sensations), smells (olfactory sensations), tastes (gustatory sensations), touches (tactile sensations), etc.

The philosopher makes conceptions of a given world — the philosopher establishes the significance, the whither and wherefore, of different sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, etc.

The scientist makes predictions about a given world — the scientist figures out whether it is likely and how likely it is to encounter different sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, etc.

But neither the artist, nor the philosopher, nor the scientist can be said to make a world — for the making of a world precedes, exceeds, and succeeds the making of sensations, conceptions, and predictions. 

The world that we come to sense in and through art, and to conceive of in and through philosophy, and to make predictions about in and through science is a world that is taken as a given by the artist, philosopher, and scientist; it is not a world that they make themselves in and by doing art, philosophy, or science.

Relations are what make worlds, which is to say, in other words, that making a world means making relations. 

Sensations, conceptions, and predictions articulate the relations that precede, exceed, and succeed them. The figure of the artist enables us to sense established relations, the figure of the philosopher enables us to conceive of established relations, and the figure of the scientist enables us to make predictions about established relations, but none of these figures actually establish relations themselves. Establishing relations is an extra-artistic affair for the artist, an extra-philosophical affair for the philosopher, and an extra-scientific affair for the scientist.

A world-making project is neither an artistic project, nor a philosophical project, nor scientific project. Rather, a world-making project is the condition for artistic, philosophical, and scientific projects. Artists, philosophers, and scientists who cannot take the world that conditions their practices for granted find that they must act as world-makers in addition to acting as artists, philosophers, and scientists: they find that they must make the worlds that others will take as given.