Mirror theory and the production of space

INTRODUCTION 

In this space, I share my experience with what I call mirror theory and its relationship with the production of space, understood as the appropriation that an object or subject makes of nature. I draw inspiration from the approach of abstract empiricism, based on the idea that objects have the capacity to transform their surroundings. In this sense, I propose the eye as a mirror of spatial reality.

THE ONLY WAY TO KNOW OURSELVES IS THROUGH THE EYES OF THE OTHER. 

For years, the phrase "the only way to know ourselves is through the eyes of the other" has stirred deep curiosity within me. Over time, and through studying Milton Santos, I came to understand that space is not just a physical extension—it is a historical phenomenon and a social fact.

This understanding led me to conceive of space not only in terms of relationships between subjects, but also between objects, with the eye being one of them: an object of spatial production.

So I decided to bring the phrase into the realm of experience: to see myself through the eyes of another person.

The day I saw the history of humanity through the eyes of another person. 

We looked at each other in silence for a long time, trying to quiet the mental noise. In that moment, something happened—something I can only describe as a subversive explosion from the outside. I reached out toward the other and I saw myself. I saw my skin, I saw her skin, I saw our skin. Nothing more than fragile fragments that fade over time.

There I was, seeing myself through her gaze. Listening to the story her skin was telling me. The eye was no longer a literal mirror: it became an immersive mirror, a spatial mirror, in which I could finally recognize myself.

But the dimension that was revealed to me—marked by circadian rhythms that have witnessed so many wars—was not the only thing this practice could teach me. I could feel it.

More Than a Year Later

After a while, I was in the middle of a conversation with my twin sister, the same person with whom I had experienced the above event. As we were talking, the phrase "before you look at the speck in someone else's eye, look at the speck in your own eye" came up, and my sister added - the only way to know each other is through each other's eyes. That's when I knew the phrase needed my full attention and curiosity again. While I was motivated to find out what other meaning this phrase could have, I tried to find myself in her eyes. And so I did, I found myself, I recognised myself, but this time it was very different. And yes, it is true that we are all connected. That is why it has been said that the only way to understand cognitive development is through social interaction. To move from thinking about social situations between subjects to thinking about situations between objects, by showing that abstract empiricism contributes to the production of mental space. 

So space exists, it is <<the worked matter par excellence>> Santos, 1986.

During our conversation we took a moment to look at each other through each other's eyes. In this way I was able to perceive the geographical environment, which is the set of circumstances or conditions external to a living being, and then I saw the space that made up that geographical environment, which was behind me, to my sides, and I was in it. The powerful thing about this experience is that I was able to observe and recognise it all through the eyes of my fellow human being, and seeing myself in his eyes I could only be grateful for his presence. To exist, then, is to place oneself and at the same time to move, to know and to be able to master the distances between social realities. The social world is constituted by space as a world of experience shared by individuals and groups. Without further ado, I find that landscape (the set of elements available to our senses) is an intrinsic part of space, represented as a totality that includes forms. 

Space Seen Through the Eye of the Other

During that conversation, we took a moment to look into each other's eyes again. In doing so, I was able to perceive the geographical environment—the set of external circumstances or conditions that surround a living being. Then I saw the space that made up that environment: the space behind me, to my sides, and the space I was in.

What made this experience so powerful was that I was able to observe and recognize all of it through the eyes of my fellow human being, and seeing myself in her eyes, I could only feel gratitude for her presence.

To exist, then, is to place oneself. It is to move. It is to recognize and navigate the distances between social realities.

The social world is a spatial world, made up of shared experiences, of presences reflected in one another. And in that world, the eye—as a mirror of space—plays a subtle yet fundamental role.

CONCLUSION

In this journey I experienced interspatiality and its multiple aspects, which naturally taught me to understand what space is and what the production of space means, which corresponds to the appropriation of nature that an object or subject undertakes. With a personal experience that contributes to the geographical space of my being, I rescue the idea of the eye as a spatial mirror. 

Katerin Fernanda Mosquera Moreno 

Space Operator