Jokūbas Čižikas
Technoshaman
Russian cosmism – the first techno-religion – was a trailblazer for the introduction of Soviet-style communism in Lithuania. It appeared in the early 20th century, notably expressive both ideologically and aesthetically. Ordinary, everyday objects were presented as transcendental; inventions were illustrated with mechanisms that had nothing at all in common with them, and design was subjugated to the ’holy cosmic geometry‘, pervaded with spirituality. Everybody could develop an individidual, ’cosmic‘ relationship with everyday objects, using them as ritualistic props. In the Western world during the same period, the relationship between technology and ritual was based on techno-metaphysics and functioned mainly as a show, producing ephemeral effects. Scientology and similar institutions employed technology to suspend the topic in a state of waiting for faith and healing through enlightenment.
