It seems obvious that to be a visual artist, one should be able to see. But what does that really mean? Seeing is more than simply detecting light or being able to form images on a film or retina or computer chip. Seeing is about being able to use images to make decisions or draw conclusions. For that to happen, we have to be able to discern shapes and objects in an image. An object is something that we have a label for, and so we must not only have encountered it previously, but we must be able to characterize it somehow, not only with respect to visual characteristics but also concerning its function or class of object.