Seeing Is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees A Book by Lawrence Wechler & Robert Irwin lawrenceweschler.com Sonorisms IMore than just a machine that runs alongNobody was doing anythingNYLAAggressively Zen+31 More The Small GroupInfinite varieties of contextsYour only language is visionTo see is to forget the name of the thing one seesRobert Irwin: A Conditional ArtThe Finish Fetish ArtistsPhenomenal: California Light, Space, Surface artlifecraftseeing
Time and space Tones appear placed and directed predominantly in time from before to now to later. Their juxtaposition in a musical composition is perceived within a prescribed sequence only. Horizontally, the tones follow each other, perhaps not in a straight line, but of necessity in a prescribed order and only in 1 direction – forward. Tones heard earlier fade, and those farther back disappear, vanish. We do not hear them backward. Colors appear connected predominantly in space. Therefore, as constellations they can be seen in any direction and at any speed. And as they remain, we can return to them repeatedly and in many ways. This remaining and not remaining, or vanishing and not vanishing, shows only 1 essential difference between the fields of tone and color. The accuracy of perception in one field is matched by the durability of retention in the other, demonstrating a curious reversal in visual and auditory memory. Josef Albers, Interaction of Color It will not stand still to be pointed at