Repetition Progressing
Sometimes, the futility of examining our contradictions and repetitions can be fuel for forward motion.
The inspiration for Repetition Progressing was born from realizing that futility can be a necessary part of progression, specifically, the futility experienced while trying again and again, or, in my case, drawing lines over and over.
The repetition in CognEYEzant:365 has led me to see that doing something over and over can bring newness. Each eye is infinitely different from the rest, and the repetition turns into a kind of discovery. But discovery takes effort, it takes looking, seeking. That’s why I chose the theme of repetition.
Recognizing futility can call us to action, an action created from our own determination. However, the push to make change doesn’t always begin with action; sometimes, it begins with awareness: naming what must be changed. And where recognition comes, I believe, motion follows. Learning to integrate futility and motion is a challenge, but one that seems natural because the very act of living asks us to be in constant motion.
Equating repetition with forward motion might, at first, seem contradictory. After all, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different answer.” This quote has been a part of my life for a long time, often used in response to futile moments. At first, I agreed with the idea attributed to Einstein. But, when you really think about it, nothing can truly be the same.
Sure, you may wash the same dishes each day, but the circumstances (people in the room, the temperature of the water, how you feel, the crusty food on the plates, the music, or the silence) are always different.
I’ve recently learned, much to my young self’s satisfaction, that the Einstein quote may not have been his. I was enlightened by Frank Wilczek [1], theoretical physicist and mathematician, on how the world of particle physics directly contradicts the quote. He explains [2] that:
“If you think about what happens at a modern particle physics accelerator [3] like the LHC [4] or, even better, its predecessor, the LEP [5], or Electron-Positron Collider, what happens at an accelerator like that is that people do the same thing over and over again. They collide electrons [6] and positrons [7] with exactly the same properties, exactly the same energy, many, many times, and you get different results each time.”
Repetition Progressing’s line drawings were inspired by the repetition and futility that many of us personally experience in the growth process, in being human. The many, sometimes crossing, lines in each piece represent the contradictions that often arise from our experiences. Philosopher Georg Hegel, in his book The Science of Logic [8], describes contradiction’s important role:
“It is only because a thing contains a contradiction within itself that it moves and acquires impulse and activity. That is the process of all motion and development.”
Naming and observing contradictions in the world and within ourselves is at the core of Repetition Progressing. I wanted to try to articulate how repetition and contradiction are the backbone of our human experience. If we learn to live with, not despite, our contradictions, if we learn to cherish futility, and if we learn to relish necessary forms of repetition, life will progress and, perhaps, make beauty along the way. We just need to look, one eye at a time.
Click here to view the pieces from Repetition Progressing.
Footnotes:
- Author of A Beautiful Question (WorldCat / Bookshop)
- On Being episode “Why is the World so Beautiful?”
- Wikipedia, Particle Accelerator
- Large Hadron Collider, CERN website
- Wikipedia, Large Electron–Positron Collider
- Wikipedia, electron
- Wikipedia, positron
- Hegel, The Science of Logic (WorldCat / Bookshop)