The mind knows. The mind Knows Things. That’s what it does.
What happens when it doesn’t?
What happens when you see without knowing? I don’t mean “ignorance” but rather an undifferentiated observation. A pre-conceptual moment, before the mind slices and dices and gives everything a name …
It happens to me, sometimes, in art galleries and in particular around sculpture. Also in nature, when something organic appears angular and man-made.
Perhaps my expectations are subverted — or perhaps there were no expectations for a moment — but on seeing the object, the sculpture or rock or whatever it is, my brain just … stops. Or rather, it tries to go but isn’t in gear.
The apparent object is there, but I can feel confusion arise. There is an object, but what Is it?
The mind starts to race a little, even panic, trying to work it out. Like a car in neutral when you step on the gas. No gears to move it forward, just a high pitched whine and the RPM needle shooting up. … In this moment, the confusion is complete. I don’t know the object as a “weird sculpture” or a “strange stone,” there is just a blob of form and light and a racing mind.
And then something clicks. The object comes forward. The mind has given it a label, told a story. Whatever it is, it now has sharp edges and stands apart.
A moment of magic. To briefly see without knowing. Free, just observing — even observing the mind, stuck in neutral, accelerator jammed down, the loundest and biggest object in my awareness.
