After reading chapter three in “Art as Spiritual Practice” by Grey, I learn to see pieces of work in different views. Grey discussed the differences between look and see, which are two levels of seeing art. He pointed out we should use our heart instead of just eyes to see works deeply, which I think is really interesting because I feel like this is similar when we see a person. He said that “in the deepest art, a condition of the soul is revealed, one’s heart is opened, and spiritual insight is transmitted to the eye of contemplation” (p.82). Just like when we get along with some people, we firstly would just see them in general and have first impression of them, then we start to actually know them after talking or hanging out, and finally we can only know them very well by knowing their stories and seeing them by heart.
Grey talked through the article that artists use three eyes to see their works, and wholeness, harmony and radiance are three elements to be considered for beauty (Grey). When I see a piece of art, I suddenly will have my first sense of its subject or theme. By now, I just look at it. When I start thinking about the motivation or stories behind this work while I seeing it, I am using my second eye. When I connect it with myself or I can feel the spirit inside of it, that’s the time I really understand this work. In this perspective, I cannot say I totally understand any of the art because I never had such experience to see any of them deeply. Grey mentioned that his painting Transfiguration took him so long to finish it because he wants to express the spirit behind it, which is the hardest stage in creating art. I know I probably would not feel the spirit of it by seeing it now since I still don’t know the artist in person and his stories, but I am very thankful to him for letting me know I actually have more than two eyes to see the world.
I agree with what you say about needing to put ourselves in the shoes of the author. In addition, we need try to use the three eyes to see their works. This is difficult sometimes, because we all have different interpretation of art and artists don’t publicly release their inspiration for certain art works. I agree with what Grey states about how to considered the element of art, “artists use three eyes to see their works, and wholeness, harmony and radiance are three elements to be considered for beauty” (Grey, 73). Also, I believe the last state of expressing art is by connecting it with spiritual practice. According to Grey, “In order to experience art fully viewers must go through a mini ego death by placing themselves in the inspired mind of the artists” (74). Thus, I think the major question I want to ask you is that, What connections do you make with the artist when you viewing an art project and can you feel what inspired them to create the art?
This is a very thoughtful post. Things just seem to make more sense when you look at things from a perspective of wholeness. I really liked the reading in that its lessons can be applied to many more aspects of life than just art. I feel as though every piece of art has a story and a background, and along with that a little piece of the artist’s soul. There really is a big difference between looking and seeing! Like you said, it involves more the heart than the eyes.
Bean, your post was extremely well written, I think. I wrote about the video piece, and to see this kind of critical reaction to the reading was very good. your first paragraph was great in that you compared how people view art to how first impressions are made. To me, that is a flawless comparison as when art is viewed at a deeper level, it is appreciated more, similar to getting to know another individual.