Seeing Knowing

‘Seeing Knowing’, 2004, is a work created by Kosuth specifically for the spaces of the Museum. Conceived in two parts, theoretically in dialogue with each other, the work consists of two back-lit panels, one installed outside on the roof of the Manica Lunga building, the other positioned inside, on the third floor of the Castello. On both panels, one can read —in Italian on the outdoor panel, in English on the other —the following phrase, taken from the writings of the philosopher Giovanbattista Vico (1668-1744):“Fa ’ vero ciò che tu vuoi conoscere —;ed io,in conoscere il vero che mi avete proposto il farò,talché non mi resta in conto alcuno da dubitarne,perché io stesso l’ho fatto” (“Make true what you want to know-; and I in knowing the truth that you have proposed to me, will do it, so that I am not left with any reason to doubt it, since I myself have done it”).
A system usually used for advertising or promotional communications thus becomes a means for the dissemination of a philosophical statement that makes knowledge and the importance of the act of knowing the raw material for the comprehension of the true nature of existence.