Chapter 1.5: Looking and Seeing

Looking and Seeing: Comprehensive Notes

Scope: Contrast looking and seeing across representational, abstract, and nonrepresentational art. Regardless of form, we encounter art primarily through our eyes, so it’s crucial to examine how we use them. The verbs look and see indicate varying degrees of visual awareness.

Looking
- Habitual, often mechanical or goal-oriented.
- We take in what is before us to fulfill a function (e.g., looking at a doorknob to grasp and turn it).
- If function is all that matters, looking is sufficient and rapid.
Seeing
- A higher level of perception, open, receptive, and focused.
- In seeing, we engage memories, imaginations, and feelings attached to what we observe.
- We remember similar experiences, imagine other outcomes, and allow ourselves to feel something about the object or image, doing more than just looking.
- Seeing requires effort and is a creative operation.

Henri Matisse described seeing intently as a creative operation requiring effort.
He warned that everything we see is distorted by acquired habits, especially in an age saturated with cinema, posters, and magazines, which flood us with ready-made images.
These images act like prejudices for the eye and mind, complicating direct perception.
The effort to see without distortion resembles courage because it resists habitual shortcuts.

Words and visual images are two different languages; discussing visual arts with words is always a translation and a step removed from direct experience.
Our eyes are connected to our minds and emotions; cultivating these connections helps us access what art offers.
Ordinary things can become extraordinary when seen deeply.

Question: Is Edward Weston’s photograph meaningful merely because we like peppers? Probably not.
Weston’s approach: Create a memorable image of a common pepper on a flat surface, using long exposure to elicit a particular quality of light and presence.
Key image: Pepper number 30, produced by a time exposure of over 2 hours, which yielded a glow and a living presence that resembles an embrace.
The photograph demonstrates Weston’s sensitivity to form and shows that perception can transcend the subject matter.

The notes show Weston’s enthusiasm and process:
- "08/08/1930" – the date of the note:08/08/1930.
- "I could wait no longer to print them, my new peppers." – urgency and commitment to printing.
- "I put aside several orders, and yesterday afternoon had an exciting time with seven new negatives." – multiple negatives and a deliberate editing/printing flow.
The pepper in focus:
- Weston printed his favorite pepper, the one made the previous Saturday, August 2, with a week of prior effort contributing to the decision.
- He describes a long arc of effort: "twenty eight years of effort, starting with a youth on a farm in Michigan armed with number two's bullseye" to arrive at this pepper.
- He calls the pepper a classic, completely satisfying, yet beyond a mere pepper, being abstract and outside the subject matter.
- The new pepper is said to take viewers beyond the conscious mind’s world.
Interpretation of Weston’s aim:
- Weston’s image embodies an intent mode of seeing, suggesting a prolonged, attentive gaze rather than quick recognition.
- The photograph communicates a sense of wonder about the natural world and invites viewers to participate in extended seeing.
The notes emphasize that the artist was uniquely aware of something in his surroundings and that he gazed at the peppers for a long time.

Weston’s example reinforces that seeing is a personal process: no two people will see the same thing in exactly the same way because each observer brings their own background, temperament, and feelings.
Confronted with the same visual information, different people evaluate it differently and may arrive at different conclusions about its meaning, worth, and importance.
This underscores the subjective nature of perception and the importance of cultivated perception in interpreting art.

Practical:
- Develop practices that sustain prolonged looking to access deeper layers of perception.
- Recognize the difference between looking for function and seeing for meaning and form.
Philosophical:
- Perception is shaped by habit; genuine seeing requires deliberate effort to reduce distortion.
- Translation between words and visuals means that textual descriptions are imperfect proxies for direct experience.
- Art can be a catalyst for personal growth by inviting a more conscious, imaginative, and emotionally engaged way of seeing.

Perception and aesthetics: Seeing as a disciplined attentiveness aligns with phenomenology’s emphasis on lived experience and intentionality.
Visual culture critique: The flood of ready-made images in modern media can shape our visual habits and distort perception unless actively mitigated by mindful looking.
Educational aim: Cultivating the connection between eye, mind, and emotion helps students access the transformative potential of art.

Looking vs seeing: Habitual vs open, receptive perception; seeing involves memory, imagination, and emotion.
Seeing requires effort; it is a creative act and can resist distortion caused by media and habit.
Translation between words and images is imperfect; direct experience of art is prioritized by cultivating perceptual connections.
Weston’s pepper illustrates how a common object can become extraordinary when seen deeply and intentionally; long-term engagement can yield a sense of wonder and participation in extended seeing.
Perception is subjective; shared visuals produce diverse interpretations depending on the observer’s background.

"Seeing is a more open, receptive, and focused version of looking."
"To see is itself a creative operation requiring an effort."
"Everything that we see in our daily life is more or less distorted by acquired habits."
"Ordinary things become extraordinary when we see them deeply."
"The effort needed to see things without distortion takes something very like courage."
"Words and visual images are two different languages; talking about visual arts with words is translation."
"Our eyes have their own connections to our minds and emotions."
"A time exposure of over 2 hours gave pepper number 30, a quality of glowing light, a living presence that resembles an embrace."
"Twenty eight years of effort" ( Weston’s pepper) ⇒ perseverance shapes perception.