Spirituality: Looking vs. Seeing

One of the statements from the reading that really hit home for me was when Grey says, “When deeply seeing, the object of our contemplation enters our heart and mind directly. In the act of deeply seeing, we transcend the egoic boundaries between the self and the otherness of the world, momentarily merging with the thing seen” (Grey, 72). This is basically just a different way of defining art, in my opinion. This statement coincides with a statement made in Ellen Dissanayake’s “What is Art?” essay where she says, “’Disinterest’ implied that viewers could appreciate any art, even the artwork of eras or culture far removed from their own. In this sense, art was universal” (Dissanayake, 18). Art is universal or rather seen instead of just looked at when a person feels an emotional tie to that work of art. I believe that when Grey says that when deeply seeing, we transcend the egoic boundaries between the self and the otherness of the world, Grey means that we’re not merely looking at a tangible object, rather we are seeing that object for what it symbolizes in our eyes. This is why we SEE it as art.

Grey then goes on to quote Ernest W. Watson by stating, “There is a vast difference between looking and seeing – a difference which is fundamental to the artist’s experience” (Grey, 72). It’s like one of the examples I’ve used before about food being art. Whenever I make or eat pasta, an instant feeling of nostalgia hits me because it reminds me of my Italian family in Wisconsin. It also reminds me of my mom and grandma who make superb pasta dishes. I look at the pasta and I see my family. However, this may not be the case for someone else. For example, an athlete may see a plate of pasta and this about carbohydrates and their game the next day. It may simply be noodles and red sauce. The same goes for a painting. There may be symbolism to Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” for someone, or they may just LOOK at it and move on to the next painting in a gallery.

“Seeing determines every aesthetic decision…seeing is also the recognition of meaning” (Grey, 73). Like Grey says, artists SEE their subject, which inspires them to create. Next comes accurate analysis of the formal relationships that the artist wishes to express. After this comes the critical translation phase where the artist speaks to the SEEING mind. This step then becomes the SEEERS job to translate it in the way that they SEE the piece. It’s not about looking at a piece and seeing its concreteness; rather, it is looking at the piece and SEEING its symbolism, which then creates an emotional response from the SEEER.