Iconography

"What's in a name?  That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet..."

Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Scene II

 

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The word ideologie ("the science of ideas") was coined by the French philosopher Count Antoine Destutt de Tracy in the late 18th century.  Thomas Jefferson was counted as one of his many admirers.  It was only after he fell out of favor with Napoleon Bonaparte–he called his anti-monarchical and pro-democratic views the work of "ideologues"–that the word succumbed to the value-neutral connotation we still know of today.

 

Two hundred years later,  the possibility of a universal exchange of ideas is emerging:  one in which the multitude of cooperative and competitive ideologies existing throughout human consciousness could be merged into an integral whole.  What better name could be used to identify a new class of large-scale, radically decentralized collaborative methodologies?  By slightly altering its spelling of "ideology" to emphasize the underlying symmetry of the phenomenon it would represent, the name ideologi was born.

   

► The type font used for ideologi's title logo is based on the lettering style of Dutch artist Mauritius Cornelius (M.C.) Escher.  He was famous for his geometrically surrealist artwork, especially that of physically impossible landscapes -- a perfect metaphor for a collaborative method that only exists through the shared interaction of its participants.

 

► The use of a lowercase title is designed to emphasize the humility of the organization; its outline form represents the fact that fate of ideologi will be determined by the collective efforts of the participants and not a secretive, proprietary cadre of insiders.

 

► The "iicon" (two opposing asymmetrical cones of red and green) encapsulates a myriad of meanings, including the following...

 

► The relationship between top-down objectives (questions) and bottom-up directives (answers) generated through exchanges in ideologi.

 

► The "despairing optimism" inherent in ideologi and all human endeavors -- that is to say, the number of positive sum scenarios (green) created through ideologi will far outweigh any of the inevitable negative ones (red).

 

► The abstract image of a rose, a longer green "stem" and a shorter red "bulb," tilted toward the beholder as an offering of peace and love.  According to J. E. Cirlot's A Dictionary of Symbols, "…a single rose is, in essence, a symbol of completion, of consummate achievement and perfection.  Hence, accruing to it are all those ideas associated with these qualities: the mystic Centre, the heart, the garden of Eros, the paradise of Dante, the Beloved, the emblem of Venus and so on."

 

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Libertes philosophica: “Freedom of Thought.” -- a phrase originally coined by the iconoclastic 14th century philosopher, Giordano Bruno, who challenged the authorities by making people think beyond the Church-mandated dogmas of their age.