a beginning

'I'

It's the vertical plane: it connects the earth to the sky. In physical terms it represents the spine, with the anus at one end and the brain at the other. The 'I' explores this vital contradiction, our life is the conflict and resolution between these zones. One so exalted, seemingly unattainable; the other so base and basic, a world of bums, of earth, of dung and weight. The result of this conflict--that is 'I'. The world of idea, pure, and the world of pure shit.

~from Andrew Lindsay's "The Breadmaker's Carnival"