THE PROCESS OF PERCEPTION & ART“A primary function of art and thought is to liberate the individual from the tyranny of his culture in the environmental sense and to permit him to stand beyond it in an autonomy of perception and judgment.”

PERCEPTION PROCESS Everyday we are showered

with new messages and media from various sources. Art can tactfully be used to grab, distract, or relax the viewer. Most are unaware. For example, the color red is used to open up appetite at restaurants, whereas the color blue suppresses.

There is an order to how we perceive certain situations, events, even art work…

ORDER OF PERCEPTION

1.) SELECTION- Choosing what to use/see and what not to.

2.) SORTING - Organization and Prioritization

of important and unimportant topics.

3.) INTERPRETATION - Giving data and stimuli meaning in our mind.

FILTERS OF PERCEPTION: 1.) Psychological

Condition State of mind has a lot

to do with how we perceive art. For example, if you were to be viewing the painting on the upper right it may just be a dog; or you may find a connection because it may look like your dog. Different psychological responses arise when a painting or photograph speaks to us.

FILTERS CONTINUED…

2.) Physical condition Conditions such as

hunger, fatigue, health, and age affect the way we perceive certain art; especially concerning duration time of viewing. Someone that wears glasses for vision may have a difficult time looking at a head spinning picture such as this one:

FILTERS CONTINUED… 3. LANGUAGE Language is an important

aspect which allows us to understand various messages from our environment. Poetry is an example of art; which many people interpret and perceive differently. An example by Sylvia Plath is on the right. It is about the inconsistency felt during pregnancy, which is only perceived as such after re-reading and thinking about the poem.

“I’m a riddle in nine syllablesAn elephant, a ponderous houseA melon strolling on two tendrilsO red fruit, ivory, fine timbers! This loaf’s big with its yeasty rising. Money’s new-minted in this fat purse. I’m a mean, a stage, a cow in calf. I’ve eaten a bag of green applesBoarded the train there’s no getting off.”

…Notice the 9 stanzas implying 9 months of pregnancy?

FILTERS CONTINUED… 4.) EDUCATION Education systems in the U.S.

(K-12) teach students socially correct ways of viewing our environment. Democracy is desirable. Some artists undergo scrutiny for their works. The architectural memorial piece honoring those who lost their lives during the Vietnam war is an example. The piece is made of granite which is typically used for funerary purposes, and it reflects the viewers face on the stone.

FILTERS CONTINUED… 5. EXPERIENCESProbably one of the most

important aspects of our filters, is of course – experience. It is a psychological domino effect which gets stacked in our cognition layer by layer. Certain experiences from our past (9/11) awake unpleasant memories. Most people cannot look at the picture of the twin towers post 9/11 because our experience has taught us to mentally block this image.

FILTERS CONTINUED… 6.Expectations Expectations are

viewpoints or “prophecies” we have prior to the actual event. It depicts how situations will be laid out before it actually happens. When we first look at the picture on the right, we may see an old man at first. Only after careful examination do we begin to see the man and woman submerged into the portrait of the man.

WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?

The perception process is something which is detailed and each effects the other. As humans, we do not stop to think about the broken-down steps our minds create subconsciously.