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| tabula rasa 2004 with borjana ventzislavova and miroslav nicic The original tabula rasa is a theory that the (human) mind is at birth a "blank slate" without data or rules for processing it, and that data is added and rules for processing it formed solely by our sensory experiences. Tabula rasa was first advocated by John Locke, and is central to empiricism. It is also featured in Sigmund Freud's psychoanalysis. As understood by Locke, tabula rasa meant that the mind of the individual was born "blank", and it also emphasized the individual's freedom to author his own soul. Each individual was free to define the content of his character - but his basic identity as a member of the human species cannot be so altered. According to modern definition of tabula rasa, the idea that the individual can be changed remains, but the power to effect that change is now ascribed to society, not the self - and that power extends to the whole of human nature. Under this view, one can shape the individual with few, if any, restrictions by changing the individual's environment, and thus sensory experiences. As the Lockean idea of "natural rights" no longer holds any meaning under such a view (because "natural" now means whatever society chooses to define), all such schemes end up moving towards one form or another of totalitarianism. The project "tabula rasa" is conceived for a public space. It considers the systems of values, which define an individual in contemporary society, and more precisely in the European reform states, where the social and human values are being replaced by the totalitarianism of the brands. 2004 - finalist at "magdalena" festival, slovenia
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