Unsettling Artistic Expectations with Two-Eyed Seeing

Abstract

Wysote examines the potential of Two-Eyed Seeing as a theoretical or methodological approach, broadly, and hopefully for Indigenous art. He describes Two-Eyed Seeing as a vision of modern science infused with tribal wisdom, without privileging either western or Indigenous knowledge. Wysote argues that Two-Eyed Seeing is directly inspired by the Mi’kmaw nation’s lengthy history of living alongside European settlers. As his main example of Two-Eyed Seeing in practice, Wysote describes the Integrative Science program at Cape Breton University. This program is premised on the belief that, rather than subordinated to mainstream modern science, Indigenous knowledge systems can resolve one of the greatest problems facing western science: disciplinary fragmentation or “siloing.” Rather, Integrative Science (and Two-Eyed Seeing) recognizes nuances of each knowledge system as an essential component of humanity’s ongoing search for meaning. This is one of the reasons for the choice to call the problem integrative rather than integrated—to signify that it is active, ongoing, and mutually beneficial.