Franck, Frederick. The Awakened Eye. New York: Alfred A. Knopf Inc., 1979.
Frederick Franck's The Awakened Eye is an expansion on the ideas established in his first book, The Zen of Seeing. Unlike The Zen of Seeing, however, The Awakened Eye focuses more on the process of drawing rather than the practices and theories of Zen itself.
Franck's purpose for drawing is to capture a moment and let that moment represent an "eternal" moment. He is not trying to draw a pretty picture, but wants to capture the life of an object and see it as if he were looking through his eyes for the first time. His ideal is to become an empty vessel and to be filled by what his eye sees. (14) The following quotation is an indication of Franck's temperament while drawing. He says, "When I no longer try to 'organize', 'compose', 'express', what I see, but let that which my eye perceives express itself through my hand, rose bush and apple orchard become self-aware in me." (128)
This statement is a profound one for me to read. Up until now, I have always expressed what I myself needed to express; not thinking that all along the subject that I'm drawing is actually expressing itself through me! Similar to Franck's ideas in The Zen of Seeing, is the "Me", or left brain, who thinks solely of itself and no other. This "Me" may be where my notion of expressing myself in art came from.
Franck describes all aspects of life as the "Ten Thousand Things".
He believes that there should not be a discretion between what is worthy
of drawing and what is not. In Franck's eyes, all is worthy of our attention
and should be drawn without prejudice.
Franck breaks down the process of drawing into three areas called "Nens",
or short mini- moments. In the first moment or Nen, first insight takes
place. This is also the area of "absolute seeing". The second
Nen, is a period of mental reflection and awareness of the first Nen's
insight. The third Nen, or reasoning stage, is where the mind labels
and sifts through the material presented by the first and second Nens.
This is the period when the ego or "Me" steps in and passes
judgement on the first insight.
According to Franck, the process of drawing shuts down the third Nen entirely. The judging left brain does not have the endurance that the right has and soon grows weary of dealing with the task of drawing. This leaves the right brain free to explore and finally play without the restrictive burdens of the left clouding its path. Franck describe this process of Zen/Drawing not as a way of destroying the ego, or left brain, but a way of seeing into it.
Franck's ideas are very inspiring and insightful. Through words and pictures, he masterfully endows the reader with a sense of "higher awareness" that speaks of things beyond our conscious reach unless through drawing.