During the late fall semester, Ryan Campbell’s physics classes responded to the philosophy of 11th century Persian philosopher Ibn Sina. According to Sina, we cannot deny the consciousness of the self. His argument asks what would happen if a “flying man” popped into existence in the void of space, knowing and thinking but cut off from all sensory perception . . . What if you were created fully formed in the depths of space. What would you know, think, see, and feel in the vast and empty darkness? Here are four artistic responses.
I made it in response to the idea of being stripped away of all senses in the depths of space. My idea from it is that the background should be black showing the space and having no senses while the person in space is very colorful. This is for the person to stand out in the darkness and to show a person having thought/feelings even when in the darkness. – Ruby Gorham
The prompt was about being disconnected from reality so I just sort of went with that, and floating in space seemed fitting. As for how I made it, I used an art program. – Julian Waggoner
This art piece, for my physics class, represents Ibn Sina’s Flying man. The Persian physician studied physics, astronomy and historically stands as an crucial philosopher, bringing up abstract ideas and thoughts. As a part of a thought experiment, the flying man argues that the soul holds its own awareness and is almost separate from the being. My painting, done entirely in tonal variations of black, represents the eerie being, isolated from the rest of its body. I see this as a representation of what it may feel like to experience the idea of the flying man— floating into existence with a calm mind. The soft facial features represent the serenity of an aware soul, a soul who exists as its own concept. – Ingrid Lam
For my response I wanted to encapsulate what the brain does when stripped of senses. I’ve done a few sessions in float tanks, and I’ve noticed how abstracted our thoughts and perceptions can be when in a sensory deficit. It almost feels as if our brains are bottomless oceans in which waves of ideas seem to crash at the shore of our awareness and slip back into the ocean as the next one arises. – Miles Greenberg
