Seeing is believing?

How often are you asked to see something in your day? The average person is exposed to more than 5,000 ads per day, so it’s no wonder we scan, become subconsciously selective and even just ignore the visual onslaught. 

But this filtering process is carried through into the rest of our visual attention too. A fact I become acutely aware of during a recent online #troupegathering, Art as Experience.

The philosophy behind the principle is simple: strip away all judgment and preconceptions, and really look at a piece of art for a total of nine minutes. In practice it can be a little more challenging at first, but it was certainly worth it.

The piece we used was this image by the amazing and incredibly talented photographer Luis Gaspar. It was not the first time I’d seen this work; we’d hosted a month long exhibition in The Space Next Door where a 1.5mx1m version of this image had hung in a room I visited daily.

What do you see?

Dance. Flight. Mourning. Time travel? What I certainly did not see until the Art as Experience practice is the child sitting on the floor behind the woman.

And it hit me. What else am I ‘not seeing’ in my day? In business, in creativity and in the world in general as I subliminally filter for efficacy. How do I make sure that I’m not missing an opportunity or an idea, or even just the glow from a setting sun? 

What I continue to learn through this practice is that you see by being still, stripping away all your expectations and looking with a clear, quiet heart. Not with your mind. A process, which as creatives is essential to our continued ability to create, inspire and lead.

So, look again. What do you see?

Art as Experience is a #troupegathering offered by troupe.with the support of Madeline Ruiz. If you’d like to take part in the next one, be sure to sign up to the troupe. community.