LIVING OFF LANDSCAPE

Is it only through vision that we can perceive a landscape Is the space opened by the landscape truly an expanse cut off by the horizon Do we observe a landscape in the way that we watch a 39show39 What ultimately does it mean to 39look39 In this important new book one of France39s most influential living theorists argues that the first civilization to truly consider landscape was China In giving landscape the name 39mountainswaters39 the Chinese language provides a powerful alternative to Western biases The Chinese conception speaks of a correlation between high and low between the still and the motile between what has form and what is formless between what we see and what we hear No longer a matter of 39vision39 landscape becomes a matter of living Francois Jullien invites the reader to explore reason39s unthought choices and to take a fresh look at our more basic involvement in the world