Last updated on November 22, 2022
Twofoldness is one of two important features of philosopher Richard Wollheim’s concept of “seeing-in.” To simplify the idea, we can think of it as when a person is “seeing-in” a picture – they do not only see the picture as an object; instead, they also see an object in the picture. The two folds of “Twofoldness” represent two different but simultaneous aspects of visual awareness, in Wollheim’s words: “I am visually aware of the surface I look at, and I discern something standing out in front of, or (in certain cases) receding behind, something else” (Wollheim 1987, 46). So when we see property 1 in 2, then at that specific moment, we are aware of both 1 and 2.
Twofoldness is essential in how it functions as a necessary condition for the aesthetic appreciation of pictures, offering paintings with more values to be discovered. It explains the phenomenon of how one can process two tasks at the same time while appreciating art. One task is capturing the marked picture surfaces, and the other is capturing the subject in the picture, together creating an overlapping experience which is the perception of the pictorial surface imagined to be a perception of whatever is depicted from it. For example, when appreciating the painting Lady with an Ermine, we first examine the store of lines, group of shapes, and choices of colors that represent the traditional characteristics of an Italian portrait, and at the same time, we also visualize the bigger image, which is the lady and the ermine in the picture (scene depicted by painting). With these two overlapping, we can now see a renaissance portrait of a woman and the painting’s physical and design properties. Those visible features of the picture surface are what sustain our awareness of the scenes depicted. This unique feature of “Twofoldness” allows us to overlook the surface so that our view is not confined to the picture itself or one specific representation. There is a big chance that we experience twofoldness in our daily life without knowing it. When we stare at a shadow reflected on a surface, we don’t only see shapes or shadows. While our eyes visualize the surface feature, we can also see it as other things according to the random shapes that the shadow reflected.
Another reason why twofoldness is so critical is that it applies to nearly all art categories. When musicians look at a picture of sheet music, they not only see the music notes printed on the paper but also conduct a rhythm internally. This concept is also applicable when reading poems written in calligraphy: in my personal experiences, when I look at a picture of Chinese calligraphy, I see lines and dots, but by observing the abstract beauty of lines and rhythms through these organizational structures of lines and dots, I can get an idea of by whom or by when this piece was created. At the same time, I also depict different scenes and emotions from the text itself. With all these features overlapping, I receive a better experience when looking into an art piece, and many people also feel the same, which is why the idea of twofoldness is key.
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