Observation quality, not physical distance, determines whether an object feels near or far

Evidence

An observer who is inclined to make distinctions can treat even what is distant as if it were near at hand, and abandons the contemplated image in favour of a series of points that can be measured one by one, and therefore separately. Instead, the gaze of someone who is lost in contemplation, even of a nearby object, is freed from any ulterior purpose, and can thus be dominated by the image of the object. At the very least, this will mean being dominated by a form which is contained not within set limits but within a whole formed by the neighbouring images which frame it. It is not so much the distance from the object as the quality of its observation which decides whether it has the characteristic of being near at hand or far off; and no one can deny the reality of nearness or the vividness of distance. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 817

Categorization

• DEFINE: Establishes Klages’ distinction between analytic measuring observation and contemplative nearness, prerequisite for his concept of ‘aura’.
• XREF: This anticipates Benjamin’s later, better-known theory of aura in ‘The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction’. — connects to: Aura is the semblance of distance in an object however close it is — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 846; Another person’s perception of objects disintegrates the spatial relations I establish between things — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on…, 718; Strangeness is a specific proportion of nearness and distance — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 403 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Strangeness is a specific proportion of nearness and distance #expands (0.75) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 403
• High-frequency loss with distance provides a perceptual cue for judging sound source distance #corroborates (0.75) — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 882
• Another person’s perception of objects disintegrates the spatial relations I establish between things #corroborates (0.72) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 718
• Physical distance does not modify the fundamental mutual presence of two consciousnesses #corroborates (0.72) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 765
• No single observational distance yields a truer view than another #corroborates (0.70) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 80