Drawing on psychology, aesthetics, cognitive science, art history and art practice
to elucidate the perception of artworks.
Project Description:
Demo of the PupilCam in action!
Current research in perception science creates new opportunities
for the brain to study itself through artworks. Our
general title, Before Recognition, expresses the preconscious
character of the principal phenomena that interest us,
processes that are tacit, taken for granted, or subliminal.
The purpose of each of the installations comprising
Before Recognition is to give observers both something
to see (an art object), and the opportunity to become
aware of their own perceptual processes (an experimental
setup). Recent work in the psychology of perception
has disaggregated aspects of experience that we ordinarily
take as inseparable; shown how much in our perception
is not actually perceived, but inferred or imagined;
and brought to light the physical constraints that shape
our sense of the world.
Before Recognition will produce novel art installations
that will stimulate viewers to become aware of how
their brains process perceptual input and will stimulate
scientists to learn more about how the brain processes
visual art.
1. Eye Tracking
The first segment of the project will involve devices
that track and record the eye movements of viewers
as they view various artifacts, including visual artworks.
The purpose of this installation is two-fold: viewers
will get to see their perceptual processes in action
and we will gather data on how viewers process various
images.
2. Questions of Color Vision
We plan three projects which investigate the perception
of color. Two projects explore the effect of differences
in the visual input to the brain from the eyes on
the ultimate character of color perception. The final
project investigates the effects of varying visual
context on color perception.
3. Seeing Faces: The Mind and Perception
One of the most highly evolved functions of the human
visual system is our ability to read the emotional
messages encoded in facial expressions. Indeed, there
even appear to be distinct regions of the brain devoted
specifically to tasks involved in face recognition.
Installations will allow us to explore the extent
to which the construction of a visual impression is
a complex function of inference and imagination, rather
than simply a straightforward analysis of a complete
map of the field of vision transmitted to the brain
from the eyes.
Installations based on the Before Recognition project
will be exhibited in museums and galleries. A first
selection from the project's output opened
at the Krannert
Art Museum on the campus of the University of
Illinois at Champaign, and showed from October 22,
2004 to January 2, 2005.
Core Personnel:
Pamela Davis Kivelson (Artist in Residence, SCIL)
Robert F. Dougherty (Senior Research Scientist, Department of Psychology, Stanford)
Kalanit Grill-Spector (Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Stanford)
Haun Saussy (Professor of Asian Languages and Comparative Literature, Stanford)
