Vibrating the contour of things

vision and creation in Merleau-Ponty

Abstract

The present text aims to investigate the issue of vision and artistic creation in the philosophy of Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908-1961). This author shows that, not being just a unilateral act, something very significant: we realize that when we look at an object, it also looks at us. We recognize, then, that there is a reversibility of vision. Thus, at the same time as the seer sees things, he realizes that he is being looked at by them. This ambiguous action of the gaze – seeing and being seen - is experienced as a creation by the artist. It is not just an experience for the painter, but also for the poet, the writer, the musician, the sculptor and anyone who pays attention to the perception of the new and original that emerges every moment in front of you, making the contours of things vibrate. To develop our study, we will investigate Merleau-Ponty's writings in which he deals with this topic, especially the unfinished work The Visible and the Invisible, in addition to resorting to the reports of some artists. In the end, we will seek to conclude that the creative experience allows us to understand the reversibility of the gaze, which is paradoxical, enigmatic and which never ceases to question our condition of being in the world.