Eye Sea

I partake in the visible; I see and I am being seen. But I cannot see the medium which brings this reversible relation about. The vision of the self is a fold or cavity. That is, I can see the world around me, but I cannot see the point from which I am looking. I can only be aware of myself as seeing through the visibility of things around me. They meet my eyes in such a way that they, in a manner of speaking, look upon me. Vision, therefore, is always inhabited by a fundamental narcissism. The thickness of the flesh is constituted as a narcissistic moment. The flesh is the necessary depth which makes meaning possible. It is the weight partaking of our daily practices - the way we socialize, feel and live - the density which makes us engaged in poetry, music, art, and each other. The world around us is illuminated by a light in which we ourselves can see and be seen. But the "flesh" itself cannot be seen. The way we perceive the world, therefore, presumes the suppression of an invisible other, a radical form of alterity making its imprint on our corporeal rootedness.

Elemental Passions by Luce Irigaray and the article Crossing Lovers: Luce Irigaray's Elemental Passions.