The matter is left to us to create a form of connection which preserves the self against the pressures of forces which would seek to dominate it. In a paper presented at the Third International Conference on Cyberspace , I developed a model which can be used to apprehend the effects of electric media. In immersive virtual environments, this amputation is complete, and it results in a dislocation of the self from the self. It's interesting to note that this situation is analogous to the soul's journey through the Bardos of the Tibetan Book of the Dead . Furthermore, human communication is essentially shaped by the medium of communication - the medium is the message.
All mediations engage humanity in a structural coupling which changes both.
In this sense, the emergence of a sacred aesthetic electronic is the natural reaction to the discovery of a space in which we wish to place ourselves - but we can not set foot into this world until we have sanctified it. Hence, we bless our creations, declare them sacred and fit for humanity. Otherwise, we intuit, our creations will dehumanize us. The fundamental practice in sacred art is the creation of a place for sacred being within any work of art. Each of the four works I'll now discuss provide a space for a sanctified being, and in this, they stand out as works which transcend their medium and articulate the sublime.