Seeing is not Perceiving

Written by Sue-Na on February 2nd, 2012

“[T]hey may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding” — Parable of the Sower, Mark 4:12 (NIV)

Recently, I had the pleasure of visiting an artist’s studio in preparation for ICI’s upcoming spring exhibition. Without giving too much away, upon seeing the works, and speaking with the artist, I have been left to philosophize on the line between truth and perception or rather between sight and reality; a curiosity that has been further intensified by a recent visit to PHENOMINAL at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego.

In conjunction with the theme, “phantom worlds,” this quandary is especially intriguing. Is what we see around us genuine? Do we perceive the true form of our surroundings? Is there a secondary reality that we are being denied access to as a result of limited knowledge or access? How much do we really know about our world or anything else for that matter?

In the words of The X-Files, “the truth is out there”, but whether or not we’ll know it when we see it is yet to be seen.

Opening my eyes and mind to new ideas of perception

//Sue-Na

 

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A final note from me to you…

Written by Eliana on February 2nd, 2012

As I sit on a bench in the small ICI garden, feet from busy Robertson Blvd, I can’t help but wonder at this small oasis. Indeed it is a term that can just as easily apply to the ICI as a whole.  It has been a haven for me, a place where I was introduced to ideas and ways of seeing the world that I had not considered before.

With the Forget Foucault project, the ICI challenged me to reconsider not simply who is remembered, but why, and how? It is a challenge to a conventional way of thinking all at once so simple, and so striking, that I was struck by how it had so utterly slipped my notice. It was not the first time I would think that as I had the pleasure to sift through, and catalog, just a small sample of what the ICI Library has to offer.

As a part of my work I saw and read books filled with ideas and people that last fall I could scarcely have imagined. It gave me the chance to live on the periphery, catching glimpses of worlds, of realities, of truths that I have hardly begun to understand. To this end the ICI’s presence sends out a small beacon of light when it would be so much easier to get lost in the chaos and the darkness. So…

 

“…with the animals dying around us

our lost feelings we are saying thank you

with the forests falling faster than the minutes

of our lives we are saying thank you

with the words going out like cells of a brain

with the cities growing over us

we are saying thank you faster and faster

with nobody listening we are saying thank you

we are saying thank you and waving dark though it is”

-Excerpt from “Thanks” by W.S. Merwin

With these words I give my thanks to the director of the ICI Lise Patt and ICI Archivist Fellow Jojo Black for sharing your time and wisdom with me these past few months.  No matter how small, and however easily lost in the chaos around us, they are given with a deep sense of gratitude.  As I move away from my days spent here amongst the books, the ephemera, but most importantly the people, I do so with the understanding that I am not leaving them behind, but carrying them with me.

 

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Eye See The Future

Written by JoJo on December 16th, 2011

This week, my Archivist Fellowship at the ICI comes to a final close. It has been an eventful journey, filled with friendships, inspiration and excitement, with so much to be thankful for.

I first started at ICI during the thrill of the 100/10 project, when it swept steadily through its many iterations until finally halting at ∆10, some five months into my internship. When I was asked to coordinate this final iteration with another ICI fellow, I was thrilled. 100/10∆10: Mappa Mundi: The Earth Project embodied the value of process in art projects, teaching me to let go of expectations, to move with the ebbs and flows of a project’s lifespan, and to trust the mind and its creative instincts.

Since the conclusion of ∆10 in August, my fellowship has involved me in new ICI endeavors. Our latest project, Forget Foucault, aimed at shedding new light on AIDS awareness and remembrance in the 21st century.  Done on December 1st – World AIDS Day, this event was indeed a collaboration between ICI’s curatorial fellows Sue-Na Gay and Kaylie Wilson, ICI Director Lise Patt, Social Media consultant Kelly Barrett, Library intern Eliana Ruiz, and myself, along with a number of other ICI associates and collaborators. My biggest task for this project was digitizing ICI’s AIDS Archive and preparing these materials so they would be available to view electronically the day of the event. It was a great feat getting all this material prepared, and I felt a huge sense of satisfaction knowing a large portion of ICI’s collection had finally been digitized.

But now, we wind down. The end of the year is near, another round of internships and fellowships is drawing to a close, and ICI progresses forward. Where will it take me next?

‘The future’s not set. There’s no fate but what we make for ourselves.’ – John Connor, Terminator 2: Judgement Day

 

 

 

 

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A New Chapter

Written by Eliana on December 16th, 2011

‘All the world’s a stage,

And all the men and women merely players.

They have their exits and their entrances,

And one man in his time plays many parts’ -William Shakespeare, As You Like It.

As the weeks have passed here at the ICI I have never known this to be truer.  While I have only had the opportunity to skim the top of what the ICI has to offer, I believe the most important thing I have learned  is that just because a question cannot be easily answered does not mean it is not a question worth asking. It is a point that returns me to my first post as an intern here.  While I may not be any closer to discovering what my truth may be, I am honored to have gotten the opportunity to have shared this experience with JoJo, Kaylie, and Sue-Na.

With sincerest wishes for a bright future for the ICI,

Eliana

 

 

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