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Art Guide Australia #474
What to see at “the art fair that artists love”
“It’s really about looking at images and putting them together, and looking at how they behave,” says David Noonan.
Theoria
The Greek theoria (θεωρία) meant "contemplation, speculation, a looking at, things looked at", from theorein (θεωρεῖν) "to consider, speculate, look at", from theoros (θεωρός) "spectator", from thea (θέα) "a view" + horan (ὁρᾶν) "to see".[9] It expressed the state of being a spectator. Both Greek θεωρία and Latin contemplatio primarily meant looking at things, whether with the eyes or with the mind.[10]
According to William Johnston, until the sixth century the practice of what is now called mysticism was referred to by the term contemplatio, c.q. theoria.[4] According to Johnston, "[b]oth contemplation and mysticism speak of the eye of love which is looking at, gazing at, aware of divine realities."[4]
Several scholars have demonstrated similarities between the Greek idea of theoria and the Indian idea of darśana (darshan), including Ian Rutherford[11] and Gregory Grieve.[12]- Wikipedia
Darshan
In Indian religions, Darshana, also spelt Darshan, (Sanskrit: दर्शन darśana lit. 'showing, appearance,[1] view, sight') or Darshanam (darśanam) is the auspicious sight of a deity or a holy person.[2]
The term also refers to any one of the six traditional schools of Hindu philosophy and their literature on spirituality and soteriology.[3]
Darshana is described as an "auspicious sight" of a holy person, which bestows merit on the viewer.[2]
It is most commonly used for theophany, meaning a manifestation or vision of the divine, in Hindu worship, e.g. of a deity (especially in image form), or a very holy person or artifact. One can receive darshana or a glimpse of the deity in the temple, or from a great saintly person, such as a great guru.[4]
On the significance of darshana in Mahayana thought, Paul Harrison writes: "By the second century CE... the vision of the Buddha (buddha-darśana) and the accompanying hearing of the Dharma (dharma-śravaṇa) are represented as a transformation experience of decisive importance for practitioners, be they who have renounced (mundane life) 'ascetics' or householders."[7]
The Abhidharma, collections of systematic summaries of the sutras, mention Darshana-citta, i.e. visions.[8]
Indian Mahayana philosophers Vasubandhu and Asanga acknowledged five paths to liberation, of which the third is darshana-marga, the "path of seeing".[9]
Nagarjuna, a prominent philosopher of the Madhyamaka school of Mahayana Buddhism, wrote that the wise person perceives tattva-darshana, true reality.[10][11]
“It’s really about looking at images and putting them together,
and looking at how they behave,” says David Noonan.
