« Seeing Essay: "What? Analyzing grass in college?" | Main | Reminder: Writing Assistance Available »
October 03, 2005
“…Construct An Artificial Obvious…”
“As soon as you can forget the naturally obvious and construct an artificial obvious, then you too will see deer.”
One does not expect to see a deer when looking in the woods on a cold, snowy evening. One does not expect to see a deer when playing in the meadow on a scorching summer afternoon. Yet, in Annie Dillard’s “Seeing” she challenges us to do just that. This quotation is actually attributed to Stewart Edward White, another author who wrote about aspects of seeing and observing. Thus, White, and subsequently, Dillard, urge us, individuals as members of a larger society, to look beyond what is initially prevalent. They are advising society that they will only see so much unless they want to see more and challenge themselves to see what is hidden.
Personally, I think that this quotation reveals so much about our visual culture as a society. We are so quick to look at a scene without allowing our mind to actually see it. We see what we expect to be there, we are unable to see something we didn’t anticipate. In Dillard’s essay she gives the example of the bullfrog, saying that she could not see the bullfrog until she allowed her mind to encompass all that a bullfrog could be. We will not see a deer unless we allow ourselves to do so. We, as a society, try to prescribe what we will see. Unfortunately, when we do this we end up missing things.
Another aspect of this quotation is how it corresponds to the three levels of visual data. When we think of the woods on a snowy evening, we have a particular picture, a symbol, in mind. Our conceptions of particular things are so firmly formed in our minds that we do not allow any variation. When we view something, we expect to see the symbol for this thing, the stereotypical essence of the scene. Thus, I think that White and Dillard are urging us to fight our preconceptions of what a scene will be like and asking us to go back to representation, when our minds allow us to see the scene as it really can be seen.
Posted by lciscotis at October 3, 2005 11:07 PM
Comments
What powerful analogies. You did a really good job portraying the quote in terms of your experiences as well as Annie Dillard's. Great job Zaya!
Posted by: Lauren Searls at October 4, 2005 12:06 PM
I posted that on Zaya's but I dont know why it turned up here..
Posted by: Lauren Searls at October 4, 2005 04:31 PM