What Do We Do with the Universe?
We Gaze
“Wonder is the beginning of all wisdom,” says Aristotle in Metaphysics.
“And looking into the starry sky is the beginning of wonder,” say I.
Andrew Yang starts his Interviews with the Milky Way by asking his mother, Ellen,
“When you were a child, did you ever look up at the stars?”
For Ellen, childhood has long departed, as the moon has dyed all her hair. However, she answers with the greatest clarity,
“Oh yes, oh yes,” she replies, “we were trying to see the milky way.”
Gazing into the sky and wondering about the universe is not an experience limited to any one generation. Andrew makes it clear that it is so profoundly shared by human beings that it almost becomes an instinct. Later in the interview, he talks about his daughter, Stella, who asks him since the outer space is above the sky, what is above the outer space.
The directional and intentional gaze into the night sky, then, is our first conscious encounter with the universe. Because of the gaze, the universe enters our sight and our mind. Now, it does not only objectively exist, but also exists to us.
We Know
In our galaxy, there are at least 100 billion stars.
In an infant, hydrogen makes up 9.5% of its body weight, carbon, 18.5%, and oxygen, 65%.
In A Beach and All Things Being Equal, we are educated of these pieces of information.
While it is true that wisdom starts with wonder, it does not end with wonder. Instead, we study and seek answers to our wonders. Just like Jeff, an astrophysicist says in Interviews with the Milky Way, “The most important thing you know about the universe is that, it is comprehensible.” That is, we can know about the universe.
After we gaze at things in the universe, we name them, analyze them, and attach information to the names. As a result, we pin the things down, and “know” the universe. In other words, things in the universe do not disappear or get lost as we move our eyes away, but are captured by us because we “know” them, just as Andrew makes a beach of 100 billion grains of sand, and just as he lists the chemical component of his daughter.
We Identify
In All Things Being Equal, tap water, rock sugar, canola oil, powdered L-Arginine, three oyster shells, baking powder and vinyl are placed in seven glass containers. According to a calculation next to the piece, these object and Andrew’s daughter, the new-born Stella share 99% of chemical elements.
In The Way Within, we see a table of objects ranging from a rock to a juice container, from a shell fish to a Ming lock, and from maple leaves to Lego pieces. All objects are mild in color, with pale turquoise on one side of the table, and blanched almond on another. When placed together, they display a surprising unity. At a point, you feel they are more similar than different because of their color, shape, size, and even the vibes they are giving out, and the distinction between “natural” and “man-made,” between “nature” and “culture” starts to seem arbitrary.
In Interviews with the Milky Way, Jeff agrees that he sometimes “thinks of himself as the Milky Way,” whereas Ellen calls the Milky Way “the ultimate life giving entity,” that is, a mother just like herself.
As we gather more facts and know more about the universe, we naturally form feelings about it and express them. Andrew’s art is one such example, announcing this sense of identification:
Our bodies are similar to the bodies of other galactic matters.
Our products of culture are similar to the products of nature.
We are similar to the universe.
All We Have are the Connections We Make
Andrew’s project walks us through what we do with the universe, from gazing, to knowing, to identifying. The underlying and overarching in all three becomes more evident as we go further. That is, they are all ways in which we connect with the universe, and one deeper than another.
By gazing, we connect. We stretch the invisible line between our eyes and the object, and realize not only we ourselves exist, other things in the universe, too, exist. That is, we share the time and space with objects in the universe.
By knowing, we connect. We use the human faculty to understand, so that objects reside in our minds as ideas. That is, we incorporate as part of us the objects in the universe.
By identifying, we connect. We acknowledge shared natures we have with objects in the universe. That is, we are the objects in the universe.
Andrew’s project not only reminds us of these connections, but also their importance. Being vast and grand, the universe does not intimidate us mortal beings. Instead, it empowers us. On the one hand, we are promised of knowledge, that we can know things beyond ourselves. Jeff says that because studying the universe makes him realize he is able to contemplate about things beyond himself and beyond people, it gives him a sense of “wellbeing.” On the other hand, we are assured of company, that we are not the lonely powerless beings, but have connections to something eternal. Ellen says that when she dies, rather than going to the heaven, she would prefer to be attached to a star, and that would make her “feel better.”
In other words, through the connections with the universe, we are able to obtain knowledge and feel that we belong, both conducive to happiness. And happiness, according to Aristotle, is the ultimate human end.
To Connect, to Connect Deeper
The project, however, is not just a reminder. Instead, it encourages, and even urges us to actively make these connections ourselves because these connections do not necessarily come naturally. As Ellen remarks, “Where I lived the sky was clear. You could see stars. But when [Stella] looks into the sky, she sees something entirely different than I did at the same age.” Andrew addresses the issue that light pollution denies access to the night sky from urban dwellers, and creates A Beach to “substitute” the Milky Way. The installation of seven tons of sand, although of course not the Milky Way, pushes the urban dwellers who go into the dim room filled with white noise to think of the Milky Way, and identify with the Milky Way.
Also, Andrew is inspiring his audience to make deeper connections with the universe. Whereas science gathers facts and data, art arouses human emotions, thus striking directly at the core of human soul. With science, we can know the chemical component of a human infant and of the inanimate objects in the universe. However, when Andrew juxtaposes the two in All Things Being Equal, he sets the example that art brings the connection of “knowledge” to the higher level of connection, that is the connection of “identification,” leaving a stronger impression and impact on the audience.
The project is utterly beautiful.
I have often wondered why at the moments when we look up into the sky, when it cannot be clearer that we are small and we are mortal, we rarely feel worthless.
Andrew seems to be providing this poetic answer: Through a gaze, and starting from the gaze, we make connections with the universe. We become part of it, we get to know it, and we become it.Saved by a gaze, we are not at all small, not at all mortal, and not at all worthless.
1,244 Comments
New online EverbettMv
안녕하세요 처음으로 귀하의 웹 사이트를 방문했습니다. 나는 당신의 게시물에서 좋은 정보를 얻었습니다. 나는 당신의 웹 사이트에서 일의 질을 얻었습니다. 이제 나는 당신의 영구 사용자입니다. 대물카지노 도메인 주소
나는 당신이 이것에 배치 한 각각의 공연을 즐깁니다. 정말 유용한 곳이 될 거라고 확신합니다. 나는 또한 기뻤다. 잘 했어! 쇼미더벳 토토 공식사이트
방문자에게 제공하는 최고 품질의 정보를 정말로 즐겼다 고 말하기 전에 웹 사이트를 떠날 수 없었습니까? 새로운 게시물을 확인하기 위해 자주 다시 올 것입니다. 돌직구벳 토토 공식사이트
나는 더 비슷한 주제에 관심이있을 것입니다. 정말 유용한 주제를 받았군요. 항상 블로그를 확인하겠습니다. 감사합니다. 룰라토토
아주 잘 쓰여진 이야기. 저뿐만 아니라 그것을 활용하는 모든 사람에게 유용 할 것입니다. 좋은 일을 계속하십시오 – 나는 확실히 더 많은 포스트를 읽을 것입니다 릴게임사이트
“당신의 기사를 읽은 후 저는 놀랐습니다. 당신이 그것을 아주 잘 설명했다는 것을 알고 있습니다. 다른 독자들도 당신의 기사를 읽은 후 제가 어떤 느낌을 받았는지 경험하기를 바랍니다. 홀덤베팅사이트
“지식을 공유하기 위해 노력 해주셔서 감사합니다. 여기에서 찾은 주제는 제가 오랫동안 연구해온 주제에 정말 효과적이었습니다. 미슐랭벳
우리에게 제공 한이 멋진 게시물에 정말 감사드립니다. 나는 이것이 대부분의 사람들에게 유익 할 것이라고 확신합니다. 네임드카지노 도메인 주소
HappyToon 웹툰추천 : which has the largest number of webtoons currently being serialized. 웹툰추천
HappyToon 해피툰 : which has the largest number of webtoons currently being serialized. 해피툰
HappyToon 웹툰사이트 : which has the largest number of webtoons currently being serialized. 웹툰사이트
HappyToon 무료웹툰사이트 : which has the largest number of webtoons currently being serialized. 무료웹툰사이트
HappyToon 무료웹툰 : which has the largest number of webtoons currently being serialized. 무료웹툰
Glad to be one of the visitors on this awe inspiring web site : D. bandar toto macau
biri olan Sweet Bonanza hakkında detaylı bilgi vereceğizuUr
HappyToon 웹툰추천 : which has the largest number of webtoons currently being serialized. 웹툰추천
HappyToon 해피툰 : which has the largest number of webtoons currently being serialized. 해피툰
HappyToon 웹툰사이트 : which has the largest number of webtoons currently being serialized. 웹툰사이트
HappyToon 무료웹툰사이트 : which has the largest number of webtoons currently being serialized. 무료웹툰사이트
HappyToon 무료웹툰 : which has the largest number of webtoons currently being serialized. 무료웹툰
The Aviator Game is an innovative and thrilling online gameuLb
The Aviator Game is an innovative and thrilling online gamevIg
offers an attractive welcome wunderino package for new playersvOr
the Mostbet mobile application is a perfect solutionbVp
simple as kegel exercises can make a significant difference in your lifenUj
Mobile Sesame AppgAe
I want to convey my passion for your generosity giving support to men and women that must have help with the concern. Your real dedication to passing the solution up and down had become rather invaluable and have frequently permitted folks much like me to achieve their targets. Your personal valuable guidelines means a great deal to me and far more to my peers. With thanks; from everyone of us. meilleur iptv
Good luck getting people behind this one. Though you make some VERY fascinating points, youre going to have to do more than bring up a few things that may be different than what weve already heard. What are trying to say here? What do you want us to think? It seems like you cant really get behind a unique thought. Anyway, thats just my opinion. iptv france
나는 모든 것을 확실히 즐기고 있습니다. 훌륭한 웹 사이트이자 좋은 공유입니다. 감사합니다. 잘 했어! 여러분은 훌륭한 블로그를 만들고 훌륭한 콘텐츠를 가지고 있습니다. 좋은 일을 계속하십시오. 링크모음 링크맵
Mr Green is accessible to players from numerous countriesaQm
Really amazing post. I just stumbled beside your blog. I will definitely suggest your blog to all of my friends. Thanks for sharing this valuable information for free webulk.bio
Its a great pleasure reading your post.Its full of information I am looking for and I love to post a comment that “The content of your post is awesome” Great work 대구오피
Heya i’m for the first time here. I found this board and I to find It truly helpful & it helped me out a lot. I hope to provide something back and aid others such as you helped me. situs slot online
Awesome article, it was exceptionally helpful! I simply began in this and I’m becoming more acquainted with it better! keep doing awesome!
오피사이트
다소 환상적이지만이 치료법의 조언을 확인하십시오. 다파벳
A great information given by you in this blog. 123 สมัคร It really informative and very helpful. Thank you.
True happiness can be difficult to achieve, you can be rich but still not be truly happy ฝากจอดรถยนต์อุบล Thank you for sharing.
Your reflection on Andrew’s insights into our shared curiosity about the universe resonates deeply. It’s fascinating how this sense of wonder transcends generations, as shown in his daughter Stella’s question. This curiosity is a powerful reminder of our innate desire to explore the unknown. For those interested in expanding their horizons beyond the stars, I recommend checking out Sportzfy TV, which offers a wide range of content to fuel your curiosity and broaden your perspective.
If it’s not too much trouble, share more like that. slot online
It’s extremely pleasant and meanful. it’s extremely cool blog. Connecting is exceptionally valuable thing.you have truly helped bunches of individuals who visit blog and give them usefull data. alexistogel daftar
Thanks for a very interesting blog. What else may I get that kind of info written in such a perfect approach? I’ve a undertaking that I am simply now operating on, and I have been at the look out for such info. 오피
Before diving into how the Vigor Tonic workssOh
Is Aviator Game Online safe to play?sVu
Your article not only provided valuable information but also sparked introspection and reflection on my part. game nổ hu
Your article not only provided valuable information but also sparked introspection and reflection on my part.
หวย magnum 4d
where and how to buy erectile dysfunction pills safely onlinehIw
Quite decent, stunning, fact-filled knowledge right. Any reports Don’t sadden, and also most certainly holds true right additionally. You will frequently can result in a helpful look at. Will you indicate to We’re content?: )#) Preserve the fantastic articles or reviews. slot online