Staring how we look sobre la mirada.pdf - artecolonial

6 ABOUT STARING
This contradiction between the desire to stare and the social prohibitions
against it fills staring encounters with angst that can be productive, leading
starers to new insights. Triggered by the sight of someone who seems unlike
us, staring can begin an exploratory expedition into ourselves and outward
into new worlds. Because we come to expect one another to have certain
kinds of bodies and behaviors, stares flare up when we glimpse people who
look or act in ways that contradict our expectations. Seeing startlingly stareable
people challenges our assumptions by interrupting complacent visual
business-as-usual. Staring offers an occasion to rethink the status quo. Who
we are can shift into focus by staring at who we think we are not.
Figure 1.3. Mark Gilbert, Henry De. L. (1999). Oil on
canvas, 72 in. × 42 in.