Originally posted on January, 24, 2008
My previous article, Freedom from Content, as well as an article posted June 15, 2007, Big Answers, approach the same problem from different directions. At the risk of being repetitious I will broach the subject yet again. Hopefully my attempts to get my mental teeth into this problem will be of interest.
Goethe asserted, “All that we perceive is simply raw material.? This short statement not only answers a basic philosophical question, it also states clearly a basic reality of life. There is an important and significant time lag which normally people ignore. Immediately following our perception of something a number of things happen at such a subtle level and so quickly we jump at the thoughts which come to mind. We all do it. It’s easy and comfortable. But it is these missed sensations, internal body processes, perceptions, etc., which make up the palette of life, the building blocks of experience. The artist is the person who intervenes in this sub-thinking process. The sensations of Cezanne and Matisse can be understood in this context.
