Ich sehe nicht, was ich nicht sehe, 2009

Achim Mohné's work ‘Ich sehe nicht, was ich nicht sehe’ (I don't see what I don't see) at “kunst:raum sylt quelle” is a conceptual neon installation that deals with perception, systems theory and media blindness.

The artwork consists of a clear glass neon tube sculpture filled with red gas (dimensions: 10 × 8 × 300 cm) and was added to the collection of “kunst:raum sylt quelle” in January 2009.

The quote ‘I don't see what I don't see’ comes from Heinz von Foerster. At first glance, it seems tautological, but it refers to the ‘blind spot,’ both physiologically in the eye and metaphorically in systems theory.

At this point, where the optic nerves that lead to the brain begin, the eye is blind. In Niklas Luhmann's systems theory, the blind spot represents the unconscious and latencies. Different systems are blind to each other; for example, economics and art cannot communicate with each other except through the medium of money. Economics responds to art only in the form of payment.  For the economy, artistic aesthetics, concepts or content are blind spots.

In his work, Mohné addresses the limits of our perception and the structural isolation of social systems. His work calls on us to practise ‘observing observation’, i.e. reflecting on our own seeing and thinking and thus circumventing the invisibility of the obvious.