Thinking Eye -- Kiyoshi Awazu

The Meaning of Seeing I think that creating is seeing. Sometimes seeing is harder than creating. The difficulty that we face in creation equals the difficulty we face when we are not able to see things. Seeing, becoming able to see and seeing through things are the mind processes used when we try to create. Criticism relies on seeing as does creation. I think that creating is seeing. Sketching and taking photographs are also acts of seeing but what I mean by seeing is broader. In everyday life we see a lot of things. Just seeing is different from looking with an intention. Since seeing is a sensuous action, we sometimes see things unconsciously and they can become the basis of some types of personal expression. An empty bottle of Coca Cola can greatly change the quality of one's art. Ordinary matters can bear extremely important messages. What we express is what we see. What I try to express is based on what I try to see. We cannot escape from our memory of the act of seeing. Art exists only through the experience of seeing. At the same time, we try to see the unknown world to escape from the memory of seeing. But even if we try to discover the unknown world, our memory either continues to float in the unknown world or remains as an analogy. Creation is an attempt at seeing something. If we cannot see things, we cannot create things. If creation means seeing in an artistic sense, there cannot be a border between creating and seeing. Only differences among individual observers exist. It is certain that there are differences between creating and seeing in terms of its measure and method. Although seeing and creating have some basic differences, they are basically related. I feel that seeing always preceedes creation. There might be cases in which one would look at what he has already created, and cases in which the direct relationship between seeing and creating maintains a sort of balance. However, I cannot helpe feeling that seeing comes first. I believe that seeing, becoming able to see, and seeing through things provide a starting point for creation. This is "the 'meaning of seeing'." It is impossible to separate seeing and creating clearly as two different concepts. But to see, and to continue to see, in course of time, becomes creation. Until we see something, we ought to stop expressing. Expectation means a holiday for our eyes and our spirits which are trying to see things.