Most of what needs to be said on this subject has already been laid out by Max Sandor in his Purple Notebook. Read his page first, then come back to this one. The techniques he gives are great stuff. But it doesn't interest me particularly. Want to know why?

I already ran it out years before I even knew Max existed. But the METHOD I used to run it may be of interest to you. So add this variant technique to Max's data.

First some theoretical background...
Aesthetics occurs in two places on the tone scale. Their higher location is in the middle Thought band at Consideration, werein creations are alter-ised by the addition of meaning, importance or significance. A standard is created by which a thing may be judged aesthetic or unaesthetic, to be beautiful or ugly. The actual aesthetic sensation in response to viewing is found lower down at tone 16.

Aesthetics forms a dichotomy. It is probably one of the top dichotomies within Consideration's range of activity. Like with any dichotomy, one end gets desired, while the other repelled or not-ised. In this case, most people desire beauty and reject ugliness. Most people. A few here and there however are found in a peculiar case condition where they have inverted -- that is to say, they have done a crossover and pursue oppgoals. Such people are often suicidal, destructive, drug users, rebels, and deliberately create art which is astoundingly ugly.

Sounds sort of like punk rockers doesn't it?

In my temporarily depressed state many years ago following my walking away from the mad, bad CoS, I began listening a lot to the harder end of that sort of music: punk rock. Like any hip person in the late 70's/early 80's I had tuned in to the local KROQ radio station for the funny-punk and pretty new wave songs they played. But now I began to listen to the really violent stuff, which had all the beauty and charm of a 70 mph head-on car crash! It spoke to me, because for a while, my tone level had really plummeted.

But I didn't stay depressed. Soon I was listening to all sorts of music again. But I had added the violent hardcore to my tastes. I'd listen to a hardcore CD, then a more aesthetic CD, then a hardcore one -- eventually finding bands to play such as Descendents, and later ALL and Leatherface, which combined both beauty and ugliness in the same songs.

A funny thing began happening. My mind began shifting and opening. My space lightened up and became clearer. I gradually became conscious of grabbing BOTH ends of that dichotomy SIMULTANEOUSLY while listening to these songs. I was appreciating both ends of the aesthetic at the same time.

I'll be damned if it didn't run out! I had relieved the beauty/ugly dichotomy using punk rock!

Nowadays I find that pretty damn funny. :)

Ouran