Not What It Seems

Creating veils – Creating waves
One of the most famous veils of recent times, apart perhaps from the much debated Islamic veil, is the so-called “veil of ignorance” developed by Rawls as a philosophical device. In Rawls’s ingenious version of the “original position” prevailing before the social contract, people are placed behind a veil of ignorance which deprives them of any information about their identities. Within this thought experiment, this lack of self-knowledge ensures better political and economical outcomes, that is to say, it creates a more just society for everyone, especially the least privileged members of society. In a similar vein, we could think of other hypothetical veils specifically tailored to produce common benefits. For instance, a veil of silence would possibly contribute to a better distributon of our capabilities of handling (using and hearing) sounds. The ultimate (most intriguing) veil, however, would be a “veil of unveiledness”. As an approximation, it would to a certain extent satisfy one of our strongest desires, namely, the desire for “naked” truth, or at least, it would somehow connect us to the continiously unfolding layers of existence.
Needless to say, veils do not always conceal what we believe they are hiding. Most of the time, unveiling creates big surprises and shakes our beliefs by revealing what we least expect. In this sense, a veil of unveiledness would only promise new, yet unfamiliar ways of seeing, including the possibility of experiencing, for better or worse, the eye of the other.
And obviously, veils flutter in the breeze. They do flutter in mysterious ways affecting and interconnecting all our senses. It could even be argued that they have the capacity to turn us into babies, who, according to a recent study, begin life with synesthesia, intermingling sounds with smells or tastes with colors. Thus, a veil of unveiledness would contribute to the further development and nourishment of our senses, unrestrained by conventions, accepted ideas or well-established truths.
This is probably what artists, or rather art works, do, namely, creating (and working on) a veil of unveiledness. This appears to be necessary not only to make better sense of our future possibilities, but also to make new waves (sensations) against the threat of our senses becoming numbed.

Revealing through colours - Revealing true colours
In this context, colours stand out as the most exciting (fertile) area of sensation, mainly because, as Goethe first indicated, we human beings see colours on the border-line where light meets darkness. For this reason alone, they could be identified as our most common veils, directing us to the edges where it always flutters or waves, even if we are not normally aware of it. Through colours we witness the constant ebb and flow of appearing and disappearing or, what Cezanne called, the “vital rhythm”. At the point where light and dark merge our perceptions (convictions) seem to destabilize, but our senses gain new strength for revelations.
Like Wittgenstein, one could find it remarkable that “we have formed a concept of pure colours” in spite of the fact that “in life we are virtually surrounded by impure colours”. 
Impure, imprecise – yet colours are a great help in our journey towards the unknown.

Necmi Zeka