This is one of those quotes that has transformed my life. Ironically, here in Canada we no longer have pennies, but you get the point. Developing the ability to see, in a visual sense, what many others overlook has added so much richness to my life. And, there’s always more to find. My husband loves to point out things that I don’t see. This will be the focus for this week - what we overlook - and hopefully we’ll find some pennies along the way.
One of the foundational books I mentioned at the beginning of this project is Seeing is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees, about the light and space artist, Robert Irwin. He is a master of seeing; someone who questions the whole idea of looking “at” something. Through many experiments over the years, he concluded that art was not about the object itself but rather the experience it created in the viewer. He came to see how much the surroundings - light and space and other incidentals - affect the experience of a piece of art. Irwin wondered how he could use light and sound and other kinds of energy as part of the art.
“How might it be possible to make an art of the incidental, the peripheral, the transitory – an art of things not looked at (indeed, invisible) when looked at directly, yet still somehow perceived?”
I’d like to reframe Irwin’s question in terms of seeing clearly. How can we practice seeing the incidental, the periphery, the transitory - things not looked at (indeed, invisible), although perceived, as I did when I walked down an alley in an industrial area of town and saw this on the wall. It made my day.
The word overlooked means to look over, to look beyond, to look past. What do we generally overlook? I see three main categories - things that are familiar and therefore become invisible, things considered small or insignificant, and things we’d rather not see. Let’s look at each.
Things that are Familiar
First are those things that are most familiar, a part of our everyday experience. Although they’re perceived by our eyes, they become invisible. These could be people or objects that we see or use every day and therefore stop looking at them. Or, they could be things on the periphery of our vision, like the ground or sky or light or space.
For example, seeing one of your favourite bands live is an incredible experience (remember those days), and not just because of the music. The memory of the experience depends on where you’re located, who you’re with, the energy of the crowd, the quality of the sound, all the people behind the scenes that made the event happen, etc. Context is important.
Things Considered Small or Insignificant
Generally, we live our lives moving our focus from object to object, depending on what is most meaningful to us. What we choose to look at is often determined by previous experiences or by what the culture deems important. There are things we overlook just because they’re considered small or insignificant, like the bark of a tree or fallen petals on the sidewalk. When I bring my attention to these types of things, I’m often surprised by what I find. These are the pennies of which Annie Dillard speaks.
There’s so much in our world that we overlook that could enhance our everyday experience. Of course, we can’t see everything but through practicing a calm, relaxed, open attentiveness we can receive surprising and real glimpses of the world, often overlooked, What are you missing that’s hidden in plain sight?
Things We’d Rather Not See
There are also those things we overlook or avoid because we'd rather not see them, either because we don’t know what to do or it’s too hard or painful to see. We can overlook people, ideas, other opinions and perspectives, as well as what is broken. Examples could be the homeless in our midst or a degraded part of town, a lack of diversity, a neighbour in need, or a polluted waterway. I’ll leave you with these wise words from poet Ross Gay, who pulls together everything we’ve done so far.
”The more you look, the more something grows. I wonder if looking better and looking longer is the beginning point of reciprocity and then not looking away when we see something that we might not want to see. We’re partially not looking because of what we might see.” ~ Ross Gay, on the podcast Between the Covers
Practice
This week, bring your attention to what (or who) you overlook. Sometimes you need to do the most work with what is most familiar and therefore invisible. Whether it’s your everyday surroundings, the people you see every day, or things you’ve judged to be “ordinary,” you can practice seeing them anew, exactly as they are, in this moment. Here are some ideas for practice.
Take moments this week to pause and look up wherever you are and whatever you’re doing. Look left and right, up and down, taking in everything equally. What has become invisible to you? Give it some extra attention.
Take moments this week to look closely and deeply at a familiar object or scene or person. Look from different perspectives. What memories come up? What do you discover that you normally miss?
Notice where your attention goes and then consider the context. Look to the peripheral surroundings and see what you’ve overlooked. How are the light and space and other elements affecting what you’re seeing?
What are you turning away from, choosing not to see, and why? How could you gently bring your attention back?
What surprises you when you look to the incidental, the periphery, the margins? Seeing what you overlook can bring a breath of fresh air into your life. Make a list each day of what you discover. What are the pennies in your day?
Resources
Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, a classic book on seeing the world around you with mind, body, and heart.
Robert Irwin is in his 90’s now, still living in California. If you’re interested in knowing more about him, see this book summary on Robert Irwin, Seeing is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees.
Uta Barth is a photographer who was inspired by Irwin and answers similar questions using her camera. She photographs the normally unseen parts of our visual world, specializing in the art of looking itself. Here’s an example of her work, Nowhere Near. In this article, Barth talks about this series and her approach. She reframes photography itself by focusing entirely on how we see and what we overlook.
I love the surprise of seeing what I’ve overlooked. One way I do this is through repetition, for example, Lake Ontario always offers something new. I enjoy seeing the effects of light. This week, I noticed the orange glow on the wall from a familiar lamp. Also, I can get in the habit of always looking straight ahead. When I deliberately look up or look down, I see things I’ve missed. Inspired by a friend, I made lists of all the things I love about my family members - the small quirks and habits and gestures that make them unique. I plan to give them a card with my list.
So. Something terrible almost happened to me this week. I lost my phone during an epic (social distanced) multi-hour walk with a friend in an unfamiliar area. It came out of my pocket at some point and we retraced our steps but to no luck. I retrieved it from a bench in a park we’d been sitting in, hours later, using geo-location technology. All is well, though I confess panic prevailed for several hours.
I realized on my way home (at the time, without my phone) how much I use the device. For everything. For communication (email, text, call); to listen to music and podcasts. I read on it. I write notes with it (so, so many 'notes to self.’) I take pictures with it, and edit and share them with others.
My use of the phone shouldn’t be a surprise as, well, many of us use our smart devices to varying degrees. But…
I currently take walks in my neighbourhood with my camera. Last night I took a look at the images I gathered over the past week. I photograph the fronts of buildings, often with people walking past them. And, when I looked at the images this week, I realized that in over 80 percent of the images, people I photographed were using their phones. Some were talking on their phones, some looking at them, and most weren’t stationary.
I see people with phones all the time, but I don’t think I realized, or paid attention to how many people use them while in motion. There may be a project in what I overlooked…..