The origin of art, said Hegel, resides in the act of the child who skims stones, transforming the surface of the water, that of "natural" appearances, into a surface for the manifestation of his lone will. But this child, who skims stones, is also a child whose artistic ability is born of the pure contingency of proximate noises, of the mixed noises of artless nature and material life. This child cannot be conceived in both aspects without contradiction.