The Visible Unseen: Essays

The Visible Unseen is a collection of experimental essays by Andrea Chapela, one of Granta's Best Young Spanish-Language Novelists of 2021. It explores the properties and poetics of glass, mirrors, and light to understand the self and disrupts the cultural divide between arts and science. Chapela questions scientific conundrums and finds metaphors for cultural obsessions with self-image. She concludes that the purpose of description is to confirm our perception of reality, not to define it.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 192 pages
Publication date: 24 November 2022
Publisher: Restless Books

The Visible Unseen: An Experimental Essay Collection by Andrea Chapela

Andrea Chapela, one of Granta's Best Young Spanish-Language Novelists of 2021, has crafted a captivating collection of experimental essays that delve into the enigmatic properties and poetics of glass, mirrors, and light. Through her powerful and formally inventive writing, Chapela challenges the perceived cultural divide between arts and science, unveiling the literary metaphors hidden within the facts and figures of her scientific observations. In her exploration, she questions scientific conundrums that extend beyond the limits of human perception, ultimately placing herself under the microscope.

As Chapela delves into the technical definition of glass, she uncovers a framework for understanding the in-betweenness of her own life. She then turns her attention to mirrors, finding profound metaphors for our cultural obsessions with self-image in the physics and chemistry of reflection. As she compiles a history of the scientific study of light, she reaches a profound conclusion: that the purpose of description, whether scientific or literary, is not to define reality but to confirm our perception of it.

The Visible Unseen is a lyrical, introspective, and methodical exploration that offers a startling new perspective from which to examine ourselves and the ways in which we create meaning. It is a testament to Chapela's talent as a writer and her ability to bridge the gap between art and science, illuminating the invisible threads that connect us all.

Weight: 268g
Dimension: 135 x 189 x 20 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781632063526