PERSPECTIVE
The Art of Looking Between
How the quote of the day has got me thinking
I woke up to a thought-provoking quote in my email this morning by John Baldessari. Baldessari was an American artist who, among other things, burned twenty years of his previous artwork in a piece called the “Cremation Project.” He was making a point and then went on to explore other mediums and reinvent himself as a very different type of artist.
He wrote:
“Instead of looking at things, look between things.”
So why did this get me thinking? At one level, I thought about how I am looking between things all the time — especially when it comes to finding crumbs in the crevices of my sofa cushions or wiping away the outdoor schmutz tucked within my dog’s coat. Anyone wanting even a semblance of order and cleanliness knows that “between” is where it’s at.
And then I thought that was a superficial view, and clearly, the artist who burned 20 years of work to make a statement had something more on his mind. I wondered,
What could Baldessari be saying?
With just a little effort, I saw something more in the meaning of “between.” I needed to leave the crumbs behind and consider the word “perspective” and how we can see things differently, from different angles, with just a little bit of work.
Fleshing this out a bit more, I came up with three areas where “between” could mean more to me:
- Finding the disconnects: The areas where the world doesn’t quite line up are “betweens” that are ripe with meaning, whether it’s social, political, technological, or spiritual. It could spawn some great conversation, whether it’s self-talk or within a group.
- Discovering the uncovered or under-cover: There is so much hidden but also in plain view. It might require a bit of effort as we probe and dig to find incidental valuables worthy of our attention. It’s like mining for gold, and now I can hear in my head, “To the victors go the spoils.”
- Embracing perspective: How we see things can vary dramatically, and the shift in view is most interesting. Consider the photo below:
Are we seeing maple leaves? Faces? Are the faces comprised of the leaves themselves, or do the faces border the outside of the leaves? And even better, can we imagine a butterfly by looking between the maple leaf patterns? Look what “perspective” and “between” has given us.
At a very simple level, Baldessari’s words speak to me. Maybe we should replace the saying “think outside the box” to “look between the boxes.” Maybe that’s where connections, and dimension, and relationships are easily imagined. Maybe it’s as simple as seeing thing-one in the context of thing-two (sorry Dr. Seuss for butchering your words).
This spring, as I prepare to release my novel, Alfred’s Journey to Be Liked, I think I have gone “between” in describing a neuroatypical protagonist and his world. I will remind myself of the joy of embracing different perspectives, and I won’t burn 20 years' worth of manuscripts to make the point.
Spring, rebirth, between, outside, inside… it’s all one rich mosaic, and that’s why Baldessari’s quote spoke to me this morning.
Key Message: It’s in the areas that we don’t see easily where new ground is broken and new thinking emerges. Find the “betweens” in your life and enjoy the connections that unfold.
