“Simply moving into an allegedly sacred place does not necessarily make one present to it.” (Lane,29) Often times upon entering a space, the mind simply isolates the presence of the being to strictly remaining in the realm of the self. Solely experiencing the surroundings, and experiencing them as objects. The whole objective process is kept to the self, the “I” as Martin Buber states in I and Thou. The “I” is an ego focused on self interest, never to be seen in isolation. Buber explains two relation prevalent in the world, the relation of I-it and I-you. He defines the relevance these relations have in the universe as “Experience belongs to I-It, I-You establishes the world of relation” (56).
Buber introduces these relation as lenses in seeing the world in more than one light. I-you is a subjective relation containing two subjects encountering one another, while the I-it relation contains one subject and one object. If the I is surrounded by its, and the its are all surrounded by boarders, then the I is trapped in its own self centered gate. Much like when wandering through woods and only experiencing nature, surrounded by all this life yet cut off from all of it in a sense. By doing so, a barrier is set between you and it, and the I becomes a spectator, a outsider looking in. Objectifying nature, nature becoming a resting place, a source of tinder, a natural resource. Simply entering the space doesn't make one present in it, being there but not there. However, by seeing the space as a cornucopia of different species and living organisms, just as you. Soon realizing that, even including you, there is just one living breathing organism, no boarders, no limitations, and undefined. Buber illustrates his idea of limitations and boarders for “…wherever there is something there is also another something; every It borders on other Its; It is only by virtue of bordering on others. But where You is said there is no something. You has no borders. Whoever says You does not have something; he has nothing. But he stands in relation.” (55) By participating with the space, instead of being a spectator looking from the outside in, the thoughts, the soul, and the being are intermingling with that of the You, creating almost a watercolor effect. The two blend, no defined boarders to distinguish one from another.
Art is not simply a process where an individual uses tools to create. Art is a force itself that takes the individual on a journey through its will combined with that of the artist, because they are one. when painting, my soul becomes the watercolor on the paper, blending together, acted upon by my ego, gravity and the form within coming through the plane. “This is the eternal origin of art that a human being confronts a form that wants to become a work through him. Not a figment of his soul but something that appears to the soul and demands the soul's creative power.” (60) Whenever I am confronted by others on how I devise ideas for all of these works, I always answer, I don’t. While painting, I never have a complete idea of what is going to appear on the paper. I explain that I simply experience life but life itself manifests itself through me. Michelangelo spoke about the form already in the marble, working with the artist to be manifested externally. "The form that confronts me I cannot experience nor describe; I can only actualize it." (61) The internal force has a desire to be depicted externally, this can be said for all life.
Overall, I believe that the relation between I-it and I-you varies for every ego, being that every ego differs from the other.
References:
Buber, Martin. I and Thou. New York: Scribner, 1958. Print.
Lane, Belden C. Landscapes of the Sacred: Geography and Narrative in American Spirituality. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins UP, 2002. Print.
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