I’m on the fence about definitions. I find myself frustrated by how we often take them far beyond their necessary context and usefulness. A definition can sometimes be vital to understanding the world around us, but a little further down that road is the trouble arising from the assumptions our definitions afford us to make about our surroundings. They help us to forget that we live inside of a mysterious world.
To prove such inarticulate truths, I like to draw pictures. So below is my point, and case. Have a look from close up. And have a look from far away. Ask yourself what you see.
I could easily describe what images were floating around during the creative process, but… what would that do for you, the viewer? The real truth about this piece of artwork, is that I do not know what it is. Anyone may think of a perfectly appropriate definition; those would likely differ based on what visuals any single observer extracted. Some have said.. mountains. Trees. Porpoises. If they saw it, it’s there. I may not have intended to draw any of those things but clearly they were drawn despite the absence of my attention.
To define the image as being something or other would not inherently take away your ability to see more within it, but it might make you less perceptually flexible to seek new, personal answers. So, I think, beware the definitions of others, not because they are incorrect but because we are powerful enough to form our own.
thepeculiarmind 