How do donkeys and blackbirds see the world? How do young children understand the activities going on around them? How do college students perceive reality? These questions, the first question in particular, are examined by the Finnish artist Eija-Liisa Ahtila in an exhibition on display this semester at the new University Museum of Contemporary Art (UMCA) located at the Fine Arts Center.

The 30 minute video installation features a group of amateur actresses preparing to stage a play that features the Annunciation, a narrative told in the New Testament that explains how the archangel Gabriel informed the Virgin Mary about the news that she would give birth to Jesus. This theme has been a popular one throughout western art history, and many artists throughout the ages have depicted this same event in their works.

Ahtila’s work takes a new spin on the material by interspersing the play rehearsals with images of donkeys and blackbirds on a farm in the Aulanko Nature Reserve in the south of Finland. Her vision is to bring to life the ideas of Jakob von Uexkull, an Estonian biologist who argued that animals see the world in a way quite different than the way humans do.

Ahtila’s work is so subtle that it is hard to explain it in words if one has not gone in person to see the piece. Where I want to explore further is in the direction of the perception of reality that is experienced by different entities.

That animals see things differently than humans, and from each other, is perhaps not such a crazy idea. What is difficult for us to understand is just exactly how other people, let alone how other species, see what is seemingly the same objective reality differently from the way we do.

If we look at human children, it appears quite readily that they have different priorities than adults do. A 5-year-old may be fascinated by a new set of wooden blocks or an electric toy, whereas an adult does not have the time to play around with such things. A 5-year-old is not so concerned with matters outside of her individual world, but an adult must confront the realities of dealing with many other people, at least if she has any desire to be successful.

As one grows up, it is easy to dismiss the notions of childhood, but when we were children these very same matters had critical importance. How did this change? Now that we are adults, can we be confident we have arrived at the ultimate understanding of things?

A chapter in the Bible popular for reciting at weddings may shed some light on the matter. In this small portion from the chapter, I Corinthians 13, Paul makes the case that, “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”

In this statement, Paul appears to argue that the way the adults see the world can be analogized to the way children see the world. In other words, the things we value, and you can think of the many things important to you, could be simply vanity and have no ultimate meaning.

It is natural for us as human beings to focus on the things that have immediate value or utility. However, these priorities are temporal, or time-based, and it is unlikely they have any lasting value. Paul is encouraging us to look to eternity, or the things that exist outside of time.

To ignore this advice would be the equivalent for an adult to say that they prefer a new set of blocks to a new luxury car. We see this as utter foolishness. However, when looking at things from an eternal perspective, prioritizing the luxury car is also utter foolishness, except for the fact that this is hard for us to understand, just as it would be hard for a child to understand why anyone would pass up a new set of blocks. We are locked into a perception that may have no ultimate basis in eternal reality.

If one looks at Ahtila’s work, it is easy to begin to understand how other species may see things quite differently than we do. We can then extend this to include how other individuals may also see things differently, and even how the same individual can see things differently based on his age. Ultimately, all of these perspectives can be totally wrong when we look at things through the lens of eternity. Perhaps if we saw things with an eternal perspective, we would have a completely different set of priorities.

I encourage you to examine Ahtila’s work for yourself at the UMCA. It may serve as a way for us to see beyond the limits of our biases and misperceptions, and nudge us ever closer to a more accurate view of eternity.

Eric Magazu is a Collegian contributor. He can be reached at [email protected].