How to See

How does art work? How does it move us, inform us, challenge us? Internationally renowned painter David Salle's incisive essay collection illuminates the work of many of the most influential artists of the 20th century. Engaging with a wide range of Salle's friends and contemporaries - from painters to conceptual artists such as Jeff Koons, John Baldessari, Roy Lichtenstein, and Alex Katz, among others - How to See explores not only the multilayered personalities of the artists themselves but also the distinctive character of their oeuvres.

"I first became interested in perceiving energy in late high school. The world view told to me by my teachers and parents seemed to have a ring of falseness to it so I started questioning how I perceived everything. I noticed that I tended to feel things a lot. Whenever I thought about something I always referred to it with 'I feel this way about it.' I noticed that my sensitivity on this level was very deep compared to other people that I knew. This led me to more questions and explorations. Yoga took me to new levels of perception and I found that I could see energy around people after about a year and a half of meditation. I had oriented the focus of my meditations to perceiving energy. I had friends that could 'see' auras and it sounded cool, so I thought what the heck. That was a lot of meditation in order to achieve my goal! There are a lot simpler ways to do it and in this video I'll do my best to move you along this path rapidly. Many people find that they can achieve a fairly clear perception of energy, at least on some level, within a few days. After that it is a question of practice and desire.

Like the two wings of a bird, love and insight work cooperatively to bring about enlightenment, says a fundamental Buddhist teaching. According to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, we each possess the ability to achieve happiness and a meaningful life, but the key to realizing that goal is self-knowledge.