| Growth |
Winnowers
Oil on Board
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When a
cell divides within us we grow a little larger.
Reproduction on a cellular level causes growth
on a multicellular level. When human beings mate
and produce children the city grows. Reproduction
on a multicellular level is growth on a superorganic
level. Growth and reproduction are linked.
It is often easy to trace rings of growth in some
ancient Leviathan, like the rings of a tree, as
its population increased. During some dark periods,
the atrophy of Athens, for example, during the
Turkish occupation, the living organism shrink
into the shattered shell of its ancestors. In
vigorous times it builds outwards from its core,
leaving the ancient membranes embedded in its
matrix as physical memories.
Likewise beneath the modern surface, ancient bones
and structures exert an influence on the modern
fabric like a resonance. Beneath the grid of many
a Medieval English city lies the pattern of a
tented Roman encampment, a seed, in reality, from
the Mediterranean. If we were able to examine
the sequence of developments of each organ, from
the seed to the modern city, (like a shopping
centre evolving from a market or a police station
from a guard room), we might be tempted to compare
the process to the development of an embrio |
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The closer we examine the cellular basis of
life the more we find that it depends upon
structure rather than any magical substance.
Even the D N A chain which forms the essential
core of the living cell has been found to
be composed of four basic chemicals from which
20 ameno acids can be formed. It is from these
ameno acids that all living tissue is derived.
Life, it seems, is not to be identified by
the substances from which it is made, but
by the way those substances are arranged into
a structure that posesses particular qualities.
The cell wall, for example, if we were able
to stand beside it and examine it, would appear
as a double layer of meshed fibres, not dissimilar
to something woven. The membrane would be
simply a membrane without the power to move,
repair itself, reproduce itself or perform
any other function other than that of being
a membrane, in short, be no different from
a wall. The intrinsic relationship between
the cell wall and the living cell can only
be understood when one considers the 'whole'
structure of the cell, and the vital part
that the wall plays in that life.
The dead outer surface of the city, made from
concrete or stone can be thought of in this
way. As a thing in itself it is dead, but
it is part of a structure that is palpably
alive, the skin of the living city. Perhaps
it would be more accurate to think of the
buildings of a city as a kind of shell within
which the softer and more vulnerable parts
can survive, but is more than simply a covering
which protects the inner parts from inclement
weather and dangerous predators. The hard
parts of a city also form inner structures
which define areas of activity, giving the
living processes shape and support. Thus the
shell is also a skeleton.
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