On Seeing

I think the long and short of it is how you see depends upon what kind of brain you have.

I know that's a radical theory, I know it.

I mean it's kind of amazing how different people see different things and interpret things differently and see more intense color and things of that nature.

I bet it would be amazing to step into somebody else's brain (wipe your feet!) and take a look around a little bit, who knows WHAT you would see.

Maybe in the future we'll be able to house sit somebody's body, use their brain while they're on vacation or somepin. It would come in handy if that coincided with the BIG TEST you know what I mean? And you were brainsitting an MIT graduate who got 800s on some test and knows things only people who are smart know and knows them in abundance.

These are the kind of brains that I've noticed which of course as I've said relate to seeing.

1) There's the kind of brain that sees stuff but is afraid to tell anybody about it because they're afraid of looking foolish. These people walk into an art exhibit and boy the ideas are registering in their brains but there's some disfunction when it comes to actually saying anything about them. Every once in awhile, it becomes too much, the ideas overflow the speech center and the person says something blurts out something like "That cow over there doesn't have an udder" and looks at you meaningfully.

2) There's the focussed brain, the brain that goes after it's goal and doesn't let anything stand in it's way. These people you'll see them, at any art opening, cruising down the hallways headed somewhere only they know about, not looking either way and certainly not looking at any art that might happen to be hanging in the vicinity, their goal the ONLY thing on their minds. What it means probably is they have a friend in the building and they promised to come look at the paintings and oh god they're going to have to say something about them so they think well what should I say should I say hmmm interesting and now they're in the room and they're looking at the paintings and they think ACH! not those BIRDS again and they grab a glass of wine and some pistachios and then when finally they have to say something they say hmmm interesting and they look at their feet.

3) There's the people who say to themselves you know it would be a GOOD IDEA to do something a little different, do something to IMPROVE ourselves Why don't we go to the Open House at this building? And everybody sez What a good idea! But when they get there, it all is a little too much for them and they spend their time walking down the hallways, looking into the doorways, but not going in. They're peerers. They peer into a doorway, just their head showing. At the end of the day if somebody asks them (who knew they went to an art opening) if they saw any good art, they'd say No but we peered at a lot of it!

4) There's the people who look at art by scanning it with their monumentally large brains, looking for the slightest flaw and then reporting it to you with relish say that finger there on the left hand of that guy with the videocassettes is a little short doncha think Hmmmm? They do this very quickly in nanonanonano seconds it's kind of amazing to see and you actually can hear their brains scanning (if you listen closely). They say things like I LOVE this painting with the beautiful sky and the puffy clouds and the composition is FANTASTIC and those bubbles look splendid there next to the shingles on that guy's face and WHO KNEW that the little people of Ireland would look so menacing but WHY did you give that girl a moustache? Hmmmm?

5) There are the people who think shading techniques used by artists through the centuries to indicate shade are, in fact, facial hair (see above).

6) There are the people who say "So what's going on there anyway?" when they look at a painting. These people aren't sure they trust their own eyes, and want confirmation from somebody else. They think they like it, but they're not sure what it is they like, which would be kind of unsettling no doubt about it. Usually in a situation like this, someobody else chimes in, "yeah, why are those boys sniffing the woman" thinking that the first person is seeing the same thing they are and feeling that when it comes to getting the lowdown on a painting, there's safety in numbers.

7) And then there are the people who LOVE what you're doing and even LOVE what you're not doing but they see it anyway, they think the color is GREAT and the composition is the BEST and they say why aren't you in a gallery you're a GENIUS!!!!

I have a special fondness for these people I don't know why and think they are the BEST seers of all!!!