Monday, January 30, 2012

Diptych, triptych, twos and threes: When is something identical?


Two identical cups of coffee. Can two things be the same? When can you tell the difference?

Are they the same?

Today I had two cups of Starbucks blonde coffee- tall.

1. I looked at the cups even when they were filled and could see that they looked alike.

2. It confounded me. Were the two cups mirror images of each other but co-existing in the same reality as me? This is in the sense that Since something in the mirror only exists in that image but not in the reality of where I Stand looking at the mirror gazing at the identical image of what is being represented. What's the difference between two identical cups of coffee and one that's in the mirror. Obviously you can't touch and hold the mirror image but you can hold it in your mind- aka imaginary space/ hyperreality.