“Right before our eyes, a conceptual miracle has occurred: We have captured infinity! As we view the landscape, there is a horizon. The horizon is not a physical thing, but an idealization. Yet the image the horizon casts on our canvas is unquestionably real. It is a unique, specific point — the point at infinity … We call that point the vanishing point of the family of parallels.

Frank Wilczek, from A Beautiful Question

Had I inherited greater talents and intellectual capacities, I would describe the mathematical underpinnings of our image in a set of equations. Instead I must borrow words from Nobel winner Frank Wilczek — a generous man — sharing with us what he knows in depth for the price of a used paperback book.

The present image contains sideways elements to loosen our perceptions; we find disequilibrium, a bit of life and chaos near the horizon on our left, providing much-needed relaxation from the dominating, immutable forms filling most of our frame.  A series of venting smokestacks and a collection of irregular solids (the factory compound) inject opposing movement, approaching from the direction of freedom.

Viewpoint matters. We visualize the horizon as a straight line perpendicular to our road — but there is no line there, nothing physical except on our own canvas — in our mind’s eye. Wilczek does not blink; he tells us that notwithstanding its status as idealization, our concept of parallels converging at a unique and specific vanishing point is real, unquestionably so.

At the end of this section of his book, Mr. Wilczek reveals something personal:

“I have found that appreciating these basic ideas of perspective opens my eyes. To put it more accurately, those ideas bring the message of my eyes into more intimate contact with my conscious mind. Especially in the urban environment, I often discover many sets of (physically) parallel lines, going off toward different vanishing points. When I’m alert to those things, my experience is fuller and more vivid. I hope you will find this happens for you too.”

His last sentence suggests a benediction, a prayer for artists and every vigorous seeker, everywhere:

Experience — more full and more vivid — is a condition devoutly to be wished for.

I hope this happens to you.