Theory of perception as applied to mirage vases.
The development of vision in the evolution of the human eye and brain has led to assumptions of perception involving shape, depth and light source to inform us of what (we believe) we are seeing. This means that we are able to both perceive the assumed view and rapidly apprehend any modifications in the environment. When an object does not ‘fit’ it is immediately obvious and intriguing. If it persists in not behaving in context the effect may be called an illusion. This response is instantaneous and most likely inherited, you don’t need to be taught this ability to perceive.
Perspective is part of this conditioned perception, especially in western renaissance art for which the rules of perspective have become, in the 500 years since the concept was first invented, the dominant means by which we interpret our environment. We are willing, for example, to overide our perception of the reality of the 2dimensional surface in paintings and ‘believe’ in the 3dimensional view within. Perception is conditioned by this learnt expectation of perspective.
The application of drawing as a sculpting technique in a mirage vase makes use of visual expectations in our perception of a flat object as round. This confirms our conditioned interpretation of a drawn object, while contradicting our assumption by being a form and an illusion occurs. This anomaly causes a displacement of conventional perception and creates a sense of having temporarily shifted our perspective.
Michael Pollan from 'How to Change Your Mind'
'Most neuro-scientists work under a paradigm of the brain as a prediction-making machine to form a perception of something out in the world. The brain takes in as little sensory information as it needs to make an educated guess. We are forever 'cutting to the chase' basically and leaping to conclusions, relying on a prior experience to inform current perception...The model suggests that our perceptions of the world offer us not a literal transcription of reality, but rather a seamless illusion woven both from the data of our senses and the models of our memories.'
Arthur P Shimamura from 'Experiencing Art in the Brain of the Beholder'
excerpts in chapter 3 'The Illusion of Form'
'In the real world, we recognise objects readily even though they may be viewed from many different orientations and distances. Like artists, our brains create the illusion of forms. Psychologists call this process 'object recognition', which begins with the retinal image and ends with our ability to say "that's a [vase]".
Our ability to segregate objects from each other is based on a number of perceptual cues, though sometimes confusions occur and the brain must make an educated guess by selecting one possibility over another. Instead of the edges, shading and spatial frequency that are registered by your brain, you perceive solid objects placed in a spatial environment. Much of this process takes place in the occipital cortex where perceptual features such as colour, edges and motion are used to create boundaries between objects. In this way forms are isolated from one another by the grouping of perceptual features.
Our ability to identify objects in paintings is facilitated by shadings and highlights, which define a light source, traditionally the sun situated above and to the left. [western perspective was invented in the northern hemisphere] All these impressions of solid objects are illusions, as each figure is merely a drawing printed on a flat surface.
Thus rather than assuming that we view scenes simply by piecing features together, our brains likely take a more active role by using what has been seen before and making predictions about what we expect to see, even before we see it.'
Theory of Neuroesthetics as applied to mirage vases
Ramachandran's 8 Laws of Artistic Experience
(Wikipedia)
Historical Context
Influence of domestic ware
Pottery has a long and diverse history in modern culture, from homely functional or aesthetic artefact to mass-production and individual work of art. Each represents the history and taste of an era, triggering perceptions that reference a time and place of profound familiarity. I especially love jugs, they've got character.
Jomon Pottery
Many cultures have pottery, and each shows the materials, social and aesthetic values of the people who make and use it. The earliest potters were from China and Japan 18-20,000ya, where pottery is revered to this day.
My mirage vase began as a drawing as I always sketch my ideas first, but I had never seen an actual example of a 3dimensional version until I saw Jomon pottery. These vessels show a classic shape created as the natural outcome of centrifugal force during construction, which leads vessels to flare out, widening towards the rim from a small base.
I greatly revere the art of these first potters as they deliberately combined the elements of earth, water, fire and air to make the longest-lasting human-manufactured material known. Jomon means 'corded' and I speculate that they were probably made by women, pressing clay into woven vessels and fired to burn the weaving away.
These potters began a great lineage to which mirage vases distantly belong.
The development of vision in the evolution of the human eye and brain has led to assumptions of perception involving shape, depth and light source to inform us of what (we believe) we are seeing. This means that we are able to both perceive the assumed view and rapidly apprehend any modifications in the environment. When an object does not ‘fit’ it is immediately obvious and intriguing. If it persists in not behaving in context the effect may be called an illusion. This response is instantaneous and most likely inherited, you don’t need to be taught this ability to perceive.
Perspective is part of this conditioned perception, especially in western renaissance art for which the rules of perspective have become, in the 500 years since the concept was first invented, the dominant means by which we interpret our environment. We are willing, for example, to overide our perception of the reality of the 2dimensional surface in paintings and ‘believe’ in the 3dimensional view within. Perception is conditioned by this learnt expectation of perspective.
The application of drawing as a sculpting technique in a mirage vase makes use of visual expectations in our perception of a flat object as round. This confirms our conditioned interpretation of a drawn object, while contradicting our assumption by being a form and an illusion occurs. This anomaly causes a displacement of conventional perception and creates a sense of having temporarily shifted our perspective.
Michael Pollan from 'How to Change Your Mind'
'Most neuro-scientists work under a paradigm of the brain as a prediction-making machine to form a perception of something out in the world. The brain takes in as little sensory information as it needs to make an educated guess. We are forever 'cutting to the chase' basically and leaping to conclusions, relying on a prior experience to inform current perception...The model suggests that our perceptions of the world offer us not a literal transcription of reality, but rather a seamless illusion woven both from the data of our senses and the models of our memories.'
Arthur P Shimamura from 'Experiencing Art in the Brain of the Beholder'
excerpts in chapter 3 'The Illusion of Form'
'In the real world, we recognise objects readily even though they may be viewed from many different orientations and distances. Like artists, our brains create the illusion of forms. Psychologists call this process 'object recognition', which begins with the retinal image and ends with our ability to say "that's a [vase]".
Our ability to segregate objects from each other is based on a number of perceptual cues, though sometimes confusions occur and the brain must make an educated guess by selecting one possibility over another. Instead of the edges, shading and spatial frequency that are registered by your brain, you perceive solid objects placed in a spatial environment. Much of this process takes place in the occipital cortex where perceptual features such as colour, edges and motion are used to create boundaries between objects. In this way forms are isolated from one another by the grouping of perceptual features.
Our ability to identify objects in paintings is facilitated by shadings and highlights, which define a light source, traditionally the sun situated above and to the left. [western perspective was invented in the northern hemisphere] All these impressions of solid objects are illusions, as each figure is merely a drawing printed on a flat surface.
Thus rather than assuming that we view scenes simply by piecing features together, our brains likely take a more active role by using what has been seen before and making predictions about what we expect to see, even before we see it.'
Theory of Neuroesthetics as applied to mirage vases
Ramachandran's 8 Laws of Artistic Experience
(Wikipedia)
Historical Context
Influence of domestic ware
Pottery has a long and diverse history in modern culture, from homely functional or aesthetic artefact to mass-production and individual work of art. Each represents the history and taste of an era, triggering perceptions that reference a time and place of profound familiarity. I especially love jugs, they've got character.
Jomon Pottery
Many cultures have pottery, and each shows the materials, social and aesthetic values of the people who make and use it. The earliest potters were from China and Japan 18-20,000ya, where pottery is revered to this day.
My mirage vase began as a drawing as I always sketch my ideas first, but I had never seen an actual example of a 3dimensional version until I saw Jomon pottery. These vessels show a classic shape created as the natural outcome of centrifugal force during construction, which leads vessels to flare out, widening towards the rim from a small base.
I greatly revere the art of these first potters as they deliberately combined the elements of earth, water, fire and air to make the longest-lasting human-manufactured material known. Jomon means 'corded' and I speculate that they were probably made by women, pressing clay into woven vessels and fired to burn the weaving away.
These potters began a great lineage to which mirage vases distantly belong.
