Is someone of much higher intelligence, of another species, looking down at us from a distance above, like research scientists looking down at creatures in an artificial maze?-pkd
What is reality? Is it this objective world I can measure with numbers and equations in my field of vision or is it this subjective experience I have when I close my eyes and can bring anything I think of to my mind?
Close your eyes and think of a waterfall, and understand that you didn’t see that with your physical eye you saw it with your mental eye. You can even say the words “waterfall” in your own head and only you can hear them. Its also worth noting that whatever you think of is not the same waterfall that I think of.
Forgive me if all this sounds irrational or coming out of left field but this is the sort of rabbit hole you fall into when you study the writings of Philip K Dick, he deliberately uses language to manipulate your sense of reality or to perceive its irreality. You will know Philip K Dick if youre following this blog but incase you don’t I will give you a brief introduction.
Philip K Dick was a Sci fi author in America in the 60s/70s whose books have been adapted into movies like Blade Runner and Minority Report and his ideas or observations that this world is like a computer simulation has gone on to directly inspire movies like Vanilla Sky, Truman Show, and of course the Matrix.
Some of his work is public domain and is the subject for a series of comics I’m making, the first issue “The Hanging Stranger” can be found here for free. If youre following my Youtube Channel or this blog you know I am doing a series of analysis pieces on his work as I turn his stories into comics because I find the themes he covers to be very relevant to our lives today, however I realized I had not created a video or article explaining the inspiration behind the first issue..
Imagine you are driving on your way to work, just a normal day and then you notice something slightly peculiar in the corner of your vision. A shadow standing over a busy crowd in a town square. Everything to everyone else seems to be in its perfect place, but to you something is off. You entertain the notion and take a second look and within that moment your entire world changes. What you see is a…dead body?!?
But how? How is it that everyone walks by as if nothing has happened, completely oblivious to this dead body although it hangs there mocking you as if you have fallen through some crack in reality? If you found yourself in this situation you might be a character in a Philip K Dick story.
His stories are often of normal everyday working characters that seem to be stuck in some psychedelic nightmare t trip, as if they are either having a transcendent moment of enlightenment or their mind is collapsing in on itself, and Philip’s stories asks what is the difference?
When I originally came across the PKD story “The Hanging Stranger”(original Gutenberg story here) I was amused by the story and now after researching deeper into PKD and his work I realize the The Hanging Stranger is a good introduction to PKD because it covers the main ideas that PKD covers in his work to varying degrees, namely what is reality. This really spoke to me, as many others who come into contact with his work it feels as if you are called to his work. As if you are meant to read it. If you came across this article I would implore you his work came into your life for a reason.
As I go along creating the comics I will explain how coming into contact with his work has radically transformed my experience of life. The next one I’m doing is The Golden Man, which the audiobook on Youtube can be found below. As I create the next issue I’ll be sharing my process here as well as on Youtube. Here’s a teaser for how I’m designing the main character The Golden Man. It may change as I put more time into the project.
If you would like to listen to the audiobook you can find it here:
You can find the 8 page comic teaser here on my website with a free download link for Issue #1:
https://www.wesleyedwardsart.com