When there is nothing to see....

In my sculpture 1 class with Jon Kessler--which is awesome, by the way--we did a class exercise where we had to face a blank white wall and choreograph some sort of expressive sequence of five movements that somehow involved the wall.  So as I stared at this blank wall I began to project own emotions and thoughts onto it.  I thought about my relationships with my loved ones, in particular.  I started punching, pushing and then caressing the wall.  We were told to repeat the sequence of movements on a loop until the exercise was over.  It was incredibly emotional, something I didn't expect when I was first told by the T.A. leading the exercise to dance with a blank wall. 

So, if we consider this wall to be "nothing," then in a certain way it has the potential to be everything. 

 After repeating my sequence of movements over and over again, I finally had some feeling of catharsis, though I was left with even more thoughts and and emotional hangover after the exercise.
At some point I began to appreciate the texture of the wall, the way light was refracted off of the uneven surface.  This sparked my imagination a bit.  I started imagining moon craters and interesting patterns.  Kind of reminded me of one of those Lee Bontecou sculptures.  All of a sudden the wall had new meaning.

I think this way of seeing objects that are usually overlooked can apply to anything.  It's a way of seeing beauty in the world, in the tiniest details.  I'm going to try to get into the habit of doing this more often.  I remember coming home recently after a sort of crappy, down day.  I stopped midway up the staircase to the first floor and just sat for a while.  I noticed a small L-shaped metal support piece on the bottom of the staircase railing.  It was an emotional moment; I had never, ever noticed this one detail.  I imagine that most people hadn't.  Why would they? But the shadows and reflections on this little supporting piece, the way the light bounced off of it, the way that it hid halfway in the darkness of the shadow of the railing was so beautiful.  It spurred all sorts of thoughts and emotions in me.  To think that that sort of beauty is everywhere, even in what me might call "nothing" is inspiring. 

So I guess that that's the kind of stuff I see when I'm looking at nothing.