“Seeing clearly, with no judgement, with affection, causes a certain transformation - or perhaps not exactly a transformation, but a unified and selfless focus on the translucence of life. A certain luminosity shines through even the darkest moments, and this makes us think that there is beauty in tragedy. Why is this luminosity more evident in sadness than in joy? It isn’t, or at least it isn’t necessarily so. Maybe the vulnerability of the self, the erosion of the ego, which is usually experienced when fully facing into sadness, is a factor. Often, in joyful moments, we attach ourselves to the object of joy, thus impeding translucence and luminosity. More often still, in communal experiences of ‘joy’, we merely expand, or project ourselves into a larger psychic arena.”
- First published in ‘Miroslaw Balka: dig dug dug’, Exhibition catalogue, The Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, 2003
