Category: Art

Gibsonian optics brought to life in the sculpture of Fred Eversley

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An inviting pool, expectation of ripples if one were to touch. Structured resin becomes fluid and inviting.

J.J. Gibson outlined a radical approach to optics in his 1979 book The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception. In order to perceive the structure of space, we need just one thing: light.  Continue reading “Gibsonian optics brought to life in the sculpture of Fred Eversley”

In the deep: depth cues and still life

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Tasked with painting a still life composed of boxes and bottles in shades of white and black, with oil paints in shades of white and black, it’s easy for a scientist like me to think about the usual suspects of depth cues as a path to success. After all, if depth cues are what we use to interpret the environment, then using them should translate to a successful painting, paint skill notwithstanding. Continue reading “In the deep: depth cues and still life”

The sight of sound

Thomas Demand presented his work at William & Mary recently. His pieces span sculpture and photography, and, a number of them are based on exploiting some compelling properties of paper. His work entitled “Poll”, seen at MOMA, presents the relationship between becoming U.S. President-elect and measured change in polling paper (see below).

Museum of Modern Art Thomas Demand’s “Poll” (2001), based on a photograph of a Florida recount station.

Poll, 2001, C-Print / Diasec, 180 x 260 cm
© Thomas Demand, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn / ARS, New York

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Continue reading “The sight of sound”

Color constancy: A grey area

When the idea of the aesthetic experience is juxtaposed with intention and skill of the artist, the consideration about what or how a work is perceived or successful can get distorted. I like the challenge of trying to resolve what our cellular receptive fields respond to with how that may be competition with what we, as human observers, think we see.

Inspector Clousea in full light
The same picture with dimmed light

Continue reading “Color constancy: A grey area”