Temptation by space

The author analyzes the early concept of mimicry of the French philosopher Roger Caillois, drawing attention to the ontological and epistemological significance of the image in this theory, which is justified by the phenomenon of the “lyrical power” of objects and analyzed through the concept of “objective ideogram.” Considering the death drive in mimicry, the author formulates the concept of inorganic magnetism, in which the being is drawn not by death, but by an inorganic form of existence. For an unfolding of magnetism, the author turns to the philosopher Gaston Bachelard. According to Bachelard, the experience of space is the process of generating dreams, which, in his view, are not isolated in the workings of consciousness, but have a material basis. The experience of valued spaces is dialectical, and represents a movement between the concrete-abstract, the intimate-extensive, the personal-impersonal. The author analyzes Bachelard’s concept of archetypes, bringing it closer to the biosemiotic interpretation of this concept as non-linguistic meanings that provide interspecies communication.

The author defines mimicry as a “fragile” experience, which is justified not only by the fleeting nature of feeling itself, but by the contradiction inherent in mimesis. Mimesis combines opposing tendencies — the movement toward immanence and the production of difference. Regarding the former, the author draws attention to the procedural and transformative essence of mimesis, drawing on the study of Vladimir Weidlé and contemporary approaches of Nidesh Lawtoo and Michael Yampolsky. The second tendency is analyzed from the opposition of the subordination of mimesis to identity in the thought of Plato and Plotinus and the emancipation of difference by Gilles Deleuze and Jacques Derrida.