Abstract
This paper demonstrates the use of contemplation and arts-based research (ABR) to explore intersubjectivity between myself and other opaque beings. Through a walking meditation, I experience an affective encounter with a plywood board found lying on a beach. The board radiates agency and mysterious stories about its passage through the world. Drawing on philosopher Tim Lilburn’s concept of permeable attention and Bennett’s theory of vibrant matter, I discover the storied nature of the damaged board and resonances between its stories and my own. By practicing perceptual openness, I discern vitality shimmering beyond the visible surface of the board. During my artistic conversation with the board, I experience an ontological shift in my relationship to the board. It shifts from being an inert object to embody a fellow storied agentic subject. This experience offers insight into how I and other modern humans might enter into respectful relations with unknowable opaque others. Drawing on Halberstam’s use of unknowing as a fertile method of inquiry, this contemplative artistic journey invites me to shift away from our dominant epistemological obsession with knowing and understanding towards accepting opacity in others with whom I co-create the world.
Recommended Citation
Behrisch, Tanya J.
(2024)
"Storywood: Collaborating with opaque unknowable others through oil painting,"
Journal of Contemplative and Holistic Education: Vol. 2:
Iss.
1, Article 10.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.25035/jche.02.01.10
Available at:
https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/jche/vol2/iss1/10
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