MYTH, METAPHOR, AND IMAGINATION: FRAMING HOMELAND SECURITY AS ART AND ARCHETYPE

CHDS State/LocalArt, myth, metaphors and archetypes can foster divergent thinking and serve as channels for integrating imagination and evocative ambiguity into traditional analysis and problem solving. New ways of representing ideas about homeland security not only provide vehicles for communication, but also expand and improve our ability to contemplate and understand this complex, emerging discipline. Through this paper and three original artworks, I argue for admitting art, imagination and the searching attitude of humanism into the domain of homeland security. I use the myth of Perseus and Medusa to focus on the mirrored shield as a metaphor for seeing ourselves as part of the predicament and for regarding the response not simply as solution, but as creative evolution. The metaphors we choose, consciously or unconsciously, to tell the story of homeland security will frame not only what we think but how we act and how we are perceived. Art is not frivolous. It is both mirror and shield, and allows us to move, stretch, and reach to transform reality. Art is forward leaning and operates in a non-linear or supra-linear process whose edges, mass, margins, and shadows expand the universe of possibilities and pre-suppose the existence of new forms.http://archive.org/details/mythmetaphorandi1094532814Policy Analyst, National Preparedness and Programs Directorat