Although
placing a note in a bottle has always been a way of challenging isolation, the origins of
this condition have changed over time.
In the past, isolation was
imposed largely by oceans. In those days the seas played a dual role: if you
were fortunate enough to have a ship, the oceans gave you access to the most far-flung
points on the globe; if you didn't have one, the water was as absolute a barrier as
could be imagined. A bottle was the attempt of the less favorably situated to use
the ocean in the same manner as the well-positioned--i.e., as a connector rather than as a
separator.
In our age, the media
function very much as oceans once did, bringing us news and reports from the farthest
reaches of the earth. But like the seas in earlier eras, the media also isolate
those who don't have "vessels."
© COPYRIGHT 1998 ROBERT
WINTER. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Notes in bottles transform separators into connectors.
