Yesterday, I had a chance to look at an Yves Klein monochrome for the first time in years. I’ve been enamored with them for close to a decade now, and I want to try to explain one of the reasons why.
Many things are constantly battling for your attention. The sounds you hear, the images you see, the vibrations you feel, your worries, your hopes, your hunger…
I view meditation as introducing another combatant. This one is different, however. It doesn’t fight for you to focus on itself, like everyone else. It fights for you to focus on nothing.
To focus on The Void.
When I look at an Yves Klein piece, something incredible happens. Suddenly, my sensory field is also on the side of The Void. It changes the battle dynamics completely. Because the Yves Klein monochrome is such a huge presence in my consciousness, all the other combatants - dreams, worries, even pain - seem insignificant by comparison. For as long as I’m looking, The Void is winning.
I don’t know if this happens for everyone (I assume it must for a lot of people, given how famous Klein is). It might happen with different artists for others - the only other artist whose works produce a similar effect on me is Jackson Pollock.