Obliquiscopes: setting aperture for reality
I just realised that this thing, the frame, the viewer, the [enter other casually used descriptor] has never really had one particular name. What is it? Well, it’s an Obliquiscope.
I’ve previously used the word to define a process, which I think I taught at a session at the RCA back in 2016 or so. And the process took on a variety of diagrammatic forms, of which this is one:
Until now, I have used the definitive article – The Obliquiscope – to describe it.
But really there could be many ways into achieving the same aims of looking at the word obliquely.
As I sit here finishing the regenerative design toolkit, having to name the contents, I’ve decided that the frame is also an obliquiscope. And there may be many more. To be going on with then, here’s a generic description…
An Obliquiscope is a tool which sets different apertures for reality.
It works to bring your focus to bear at different layers of a scenario or situation.
Depending on what you need to do, it helps you see the surroundings more clearly, or blurs them for convenience. It helps a novice understand the basic principles of zooming in and out. For an experienced practitioner, it is a reminder to explore methodically in their inquiries.
Point an obliquiscope at something, and see the world differently.
