History
In the beginning, there was darkness…
During a warm Nashville winter in 2007, Benjamin Yale Mones and Jason Robert Wire sat before a dark abyss of uncertainty known to many, ironically, as “OASIS,” the gatekeeper for intellectual futures at Vanderbilt University. With its antiquated MS DOS interface, malfunctioning server, and high population of criminals known to bump innocent visitors from where their desired destinations, Mones and Wire yearned for a light to conquer the darkness that prevented them from moving forward in their pursuit of higher knowledge. This light manifested itself in the form of Professor Jay Clayton’s Spring 2008 class, English 243, Genetics in Literature in Film.
With a diverse booklist in hand, the two scholars set out to answer the questions raised by literature and film regarding the most fundamental elements of our existence–our genes. However, while the two expected to find solutions, what they really found was even more questions. When one an answer seemed achievable, it mutated into simply a more complex question. Truly, the topics and questions raised over time seemed to evolve from single-celled amoebas into full, living, breathing organisms.
When their offered a chance at establishing their own independence, the two leaped at the opportunity. After consulting with their local vivisection specialist, the university, and their insurance providers, Mones and Wire grafted their minds together to form one singular entity known as Dr. Mirones. They decided to take their independence to the infinite frontier–the internet–and recruit a worthy list of officials to help lead the new great nation in pursuit of truth. These officials represent a great variety of brilliant mind from distinct arenas of thought. They include:
-Charles Darwin, naturalist and author of The Origin of Species
-Dr. Alphonse Moreau, specialist in vivisection and unconventional human rights theory
-Cal Stephanides, hermaphrodite
-Henry Ford, capitalist, entrepreneur, and eugenicist
-Dr. Benedict Lambert, geneticist and dwarf
-Rev. Gregor Mendel, clergyman and discoverer of genes
-Dr. James Watson, discoverer of the double-helix structure of DNA
These proud few, along with myself, Dr. Mirones, will become the pioneers for the Island’s future, directing its goals and sights according to its vision. Welcome to my island. Feel free to contribute your own intellectual gifts.
Dr. J.B. Mirones
For detailed instructions and a summary of this site, please view the Digital Media Project Handout.
Jay Clayton said,
May 1, 2008 at 7:25 pm
Everyone in the class is glad that the hybrid entity Dr. Mirones came into our lives. We are concerned, of course, that the two of you did not seek IRB approval before you created a chimera by merging your bodily form. Clearly, had you sought IRB approval, someone on the panel would have asked whether there was a risk that a chimeric brain might not be able to proof read adequately. For that is the only flaw in this extraordinary joint project–a tendency to leave typos in place!