Authenticity: Experience,Context and Awareness

This morning I discovered the the Wall Mounted Electric Fireplace. I sighed dramatically, bemoaned the steady decline of Western Civilisation, made a comment on twitter about authenticity. What a start to my day; to be faced with such an assault on authenticity. I finished my coffee; dressed for running; did my stretches and went outside. The day is sunny and cool; the grass still wet from last nights rain; drops clinging to the leaves. You could smell that pleasant odour of decay from fallen leaves and the smell of manure was in the air; farmers preparing their fields for the spring. Now, I thought to myself "that's nature, authentic nature", a far cry from electric wall mounted fireplaces. That brought to mind my father growing up in rural Newfoundland; and what I'm sure would be him laughing at what a suburbanite called nature. I'm faced now with the idea that authenticity is mutable. 

I'm reminded of a story he used to tell; waking up early in the morning, adding wood to the stove. Some days rigging up the horse heading into the woods to fell some trees; bringing them back, and cutting them into firewood. That story suggests quite forcefully that my notion of nature and fire is different from my fathers. From his perspective it's downright inauthentic.

What fire played a central role in my fathers life. Warmth through long winters, from cooking, bathing to clean clothes; fire was a necessity. When I was growing up the fireplace is redefined, becoming an accessory. In my experience, beautiful to look at, warm, pleasant smelling wood smoke; but not integral to life.  My experience is as true as my fathers but it can not be authentic, within his context and experience. 

So during the run I have to address my idea of authenticity, of what makes one experience valid the other fake. What is authentic is a declaration first and foremost. Some authority says that "this and not that " is a true thing. This is easiest to understand in the world of objects and provenance. When authenticity is tied to a recognized author or practitioner there is little to dispute, this is an authentic Rembrandt the other is fake. Fake meaning that it was done by someone other than the Dutch Master. But if you can't tell the difference what then?

Authenticity is tied to awareness. I love chocolate chip cookies. I like the real ones best of all. If I eat and enjoy cookies made with artificial vanilla, artificial sugar, artificial butter and artificial chocolate, then the cookies must be authentic, at least to me. When i become aware of the substitutions the next bite won't taste different but my understanding of it will change. The cookies I liked have now become fake. The authority of "real" ingredients determines authenticity. 

Authenticity without a supervising authority becomes entirely subjective. My father's experience of the Fireplace is different than mine, but without authority intervening, neither is less authentic than the other. So I find that while I can laugh at an Electric Fireplace hanging from a wall and say "that is not real" It should be understood only in terms of the object itself not the experience. For many that may be the only fire place they every see, and will be authentic within that frame work. 

It should be said that where it is required to separate out the real from the fake, do so. Where it is not relax and allow others the validity of their experiences.