Now I don’t know what any of these creatures look like, actually: I have a very poor visual memory and I drew them from memory. What I do know, though, is that things look very very different depending on the standpoint of the observer, both literally and figuratively. To paraphrase Proust, the truest journey is not to see 100 places with one pair of eyes, but to see one place with 100 pair of eyes.
I think it is important to see things from different perspectives instead of making assumptions based on only one of them. That said, I have a poor visual memory so thinking or imagining, more than seeing, may be what it is really about. I have no idea why I picked sumo characters to illustrate the point. David Lynch, the artist and film director, believed that ideas or concepts float in the air for anyone to pull down. If one is open and wanting, one may receive them. They may come in fragments, possibly to become consolidated and embodied in a work of art. A weird and wonderful process, I would say, whether or not one is attracted to the product.
About Me: Steven Parr
I am a long term resident of Japan, and the Founding Director of New International School of Japan, a dual language and multiage by design international school in Tokyo. It keeps me busy, but also I have ideas and images I would like to share, not all of which are directly related to education; hence, this blog site.