'Waiting' with Hendrick Corneliz. van Vliet (1611-75)

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I. Preparation

Step one: Let the unfamiliar language we have been using in FYS 13: “Beholding,” “contemplative knowing,” “intimations of reconciliation of contradictory possibilities,” “separation/longing,” “yearning for wholeness from a condition of limitation/fragmentation” become comfortable ... familiar. As you sit here listening gently and looking slowly, attending to the painting which we will see in just a few more moments, try to be attentive to the elusive “image” that will emerge before you and, equally importantly, to the physical object, the painting itself. Be “open” to its “art” as you were “open” to the elusive, virtual, “invisible” yellow we tried to “Behold” in Piet Mondrian's Painting #1 and to Professor Zajonc's Einsteinian “25 meter pole positioned within a 20 meter barn.”

If you become distracted, confused, anxious (“I'm not getting it”), close your eyes gently (don't shut them and thereby shut out the painting and the experience). That would be a “childish” thing to do. Right? Then open your eyes again slowly. Let the image emerge before you again. Close and open your eyes as necessary. Try each time to see the fleeting image of the painting freshly. If you are still distracted from the moment of our “Beholding,” become aware of your breathing: breathe in, breathe out; then return to the painting and its “image.” Breathe in, breathe out. In one word, try to be as fully present in the moment as you can. As you will soon discover, “Beholding” is about being silent with yourself and discovering within this space and this solitude that truly wondrous new reality we are calling “silence” (as contrasted with mere quiet or absence of noise); an infinite “no-thing” that will help to measure the immeasurable.

Step two: To begin, try a little thought experiment: Close your eyes. Imagine/visualize in your mind's eye a well-known public building: the White House in Washington, D.C., or the U.S. Capitol building. Imagine also your own home. Observe and remember what you have just “seen.” We will return to your mental image later.

The lights in the room, which had been dimmed from the beginning, are now turned off, leaving everyone in complete darkness. Unobserved, the sheet covering the painting is removed and after about a minute a single hidden but focused light directly above the painting is raised very slowly to illuminate the painting, allowing the painting itself to be the only source of light in the darkened room.

Whole painting with frame

 

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