www.museumpeace.com/17/1715r.htm

1999.07.20

(chronosomatically) Contemplating the Navel

1 b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w

intestine 1 : the tubular portion of the alimentary canal that in the vertebrate lies posterior to the stomach from which it is separated by the pyloric valve and consists typically of a slender but long anterior part made up of duodenum, jejunum, and ileum which functions in digestion and assimilation of nutrients and a broader shorter posterior part made up usu. of cecum, colon, and rectum which serve chiefly to extract moisture from the by-products of digestion and evaporate them into feces --often used in pl.

assimilation
2 a : the conversion or incorporation of nutritive material into the fluid or solid substance of the body and being the last stage or series of stages in the process of nutrition following after digestion and absorption or occurring with the latter 5 : the process of receiving new facts or responding to new situations in conformity with what is already available to consciousness 6 : sociocultural fusion wherein individuals and groups of differing ethnic heritage acquire the basic habits, attitudes, and mode of life of an embracing national culture

The first imagination of modern humanity

The major morphological changes that occurred within the plane of the present as it reached the navel invariably played out the motif of very new elements irrevocably superseding very old elements, and it was exactly this changeover from 'very old' to 'very new' that brought so-called modern humanity into existence. For the Timepiece of Humanity, it is thus the navel that marks this point of profound transition in human development. Much about the navel distinguishes it as unique when compared with the rest of the body. Its singularity, concentration, frontality, and even it perceived centeredness all contribute to its corporal rarity. The same group of characteristics, moreover, describe the nature of the High Renaissance as well, and this similarity further reinforces the chronosomatic link between the Renaissance and the umbilicus. For example, the concentration of the navel is commensurate with the unprecedented concentration of historical events that occurred between 1450 and 1550, and, likewise, the frontality of the navel reflects Western culture's position at the forefront of humanity's new age of discovery and expansion. The navel, however, is not the only corporal feature relative to the Renaissance, and the connection between the Renaissance and the human body would not be complete without an examination of the corporal cross section coplanar with the navel.

The slice of the body that includes the navel reveals the presence of just one internal organ, the intestine, which although composed of various parts is, nonetheless, considered a single organ. The internal singularity of the intestine naturally reinforces the external singularity of the navel, yet the primary effect of the intestine with regard to the Renaissance stems from the functions it performs. The small intestine assimilates, the large intestine extracts moisture, and, in the extreme, the intestine involves a purge. Of these three functions, assimilation conveys the strongest metaphorical implications, and an analysis of the 'presence' and operation of this specific function will provide the complete chronosomatic interpretation of the Renaissance.

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