Prostrate Problems

 

Four-story Flatland habitat (courtesy of flatlandproject.com)

Flatland is over.  The two artists who stuck it out for the full 20 days—living 24/7 in a very narrow (”can’t turn over in bed”), four-story, 24-hour-Webcamed transparent habitat at the Sculpture Center—have now reemerged into the third dimension.  Their lives may be less cramped, but mine sadly has now lost a dimension.  I can no longer make my frequent pilgrimages to check on how the Flatlanders are doing. 

Perhaps I romanticized 2D life, and the idea that in 20 days of quietude, even if the quarters were tight, I would satisfyingly write a novella. 

One of the 2D fellows, with whom I played e-chess while he lived in Flatland, blogged:  “in flatland, i unconsciously learned to limit my movements.  i learned to go to the bathroom twice a day, not seven. i learned to not cook. i learned to not move my computer. i learned to not reach for clean clothes (stored in a basket, amongst the i-beams of the ceiling). i learned to wait …..”