complexity

Rethinking requires a mindset and willingness (based on new, credible information) to let go of well-developed tools and techniques or even cherished parts of our identity. (It is important to note that rethinking presupposes that truth exists and that it can be known.) Adam Grant, in his book Think Again, outlines three architypes that stand in the way of our rethinking processes. First, the Politician is one who bases their views on what is popular rather than what is accurate. The Prosecutor is focused on discrediting or challenging a position rather than attempting to decern the truth. Finally, the Preacher presents theories as truth and considers challenges to be an offense. To be a rethinker one must embrace the limits of our understanding and be curious about what we don’t know. The best rethinkers exhibit both confidence and humility — having faith in their strengths but an awareness of their weaknesses.

At its best, this is what great art offers the willing, earnest observer — an opportunity to see our world from a different point of view.  The work shown here, entitled the individual, by Tim Noble and Sue Webster, is one in a series of works that forms a masterclass in rethinking. The object or sculpture in the foreground is a mess of seemingly random discarded, worthless items — a pile of garbage. It is only when a light is strategically placed and turned on, that one sees the shadow of a women cast on the wall.  It is at that moment our perception of the “pile of garbage” is challenged and transformed.  We are forced to reconsider and reevaluate the object before us.  After seeing this work, the question that haunts me is this: How many times have I missed it? How often do I fail to see the beauty and meaning in the complex mess of life?