INTRODUCTION.

The word “invisible” has origins in Old French and Latin, a combination of the Latin words “in” (equivalent to the English word “not”) and “visibilis.” Latin “invisibilis” became the English word “invisible," pronounced in·vis·i·ble; inˈvizəb(ə)l/.

This site explores the meanings, elements, and implications of the Invisible. The Invisible is investigated as a concept entangled by the contradictions of our culture, a word in the process of re-inventing itself for an increasing technologically driven and class disparate society. Our focus is on the political, technological, and social forces that subvert the word "visible" and "invisible" into something that serves the powerful, a word manipulated and sold on the market.

Walter Benjamin’s Arcade Project presents a suitable preface, on the one hand a literary and philosophical historiography of selected source materials, on the other an uneven narrative subject to scholarly methods of criticism, an immersion into the milieu of the Paris arcades, precursors to today’s shopping malls through the examination of a vast (indeed an almost endless) montage that commented on hundreds of topics including fashion, photography, modes of commerce, art, advertising, and prostitution. Similar to the Arcade Project, this site does not attempt to analyze headlines or famous events, it focuses instead on the hidden, the ignored and unobservable. Think of it not as a  pondering, but more a brooding or a gift (if one can identify as a gift what many believe is a curse).

The term "Invisible" has become almost untranslatable. Nevertheless, we might begin with two definitions: 

A. Unable to be seen; not visible to the eye. This is the common, historical definition of invisible. It implies a physical object that one cannot see because of properties of the object itself.

B. Not perceptible or discernible by the mind. This definition differs from A. in that the object referred to may be either: (1) a physical thing; or (2) a mental concept. The emphasis is not on the inherent characteristics of the object itself, but on the receptor’s state of mind.

More important than definitions are the proliferations of synonyms that illustrate some of the stresses placed on the word "invisible." To explore, click "Invisible Synonyms" in the upper right hand corner of the screen.

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