Art Perception

A 50-year-old classic, which was revised and expanded in 1974. Explains how the eye organizes visual material according to psychological laws.

Explores questions relating to the nature of representation in art. It asks how we recognize likeness in caricatures or portraits, for instance, and presents the conflicting arguments and opinions of an art historian, a psychologist and a philosopher.

A complex and fascinating question is why do humans have such strong emotional reactions and human connections to art? Why do viewers become scared, even haunted for days, by a movie monster they know doesn't exist? Why do humans become enthralled by distorted figures and scenes that aren't realistic? Why do viewers have emotional attachments to comic book characters? The answer lies in that, while humans know art is human made artifice, they view and decipher art using the same often nonconscious methods that they use to view and decipher reality. Looking at how we perceive reality shows us how we perceive art, and looking at how we perceive art helps show us how we perceive reality. Written by the prominent art historian and philosopher Cycleback, this book is a concise introduction to understanding art perception, covering key psychological, cognitive science, physiological and philosophical concepts.

Materiality and Perception in Contemporary Atlantic Art' showcases over forty contemporary works of art from Atlantic Canada, from established artists such as Freeman Patterson, Gerald Beaulieu, Dawn MacNutt, and Alan Syliboy to emerging artists such as Emma Hassencahl-Perley, Ursula Johnson, and Marie Fox. This is art engaged with contemporary conversations: the frailty of bodies and land, the interactions between people and environment, Indigenous -- Settler relations, and the inner and outer markings of identity. Focusing intently on the materiality of the objects themselves -- from jewellery to photographs, from carved paddles to video installations -- the works selected for this publication and the associated exhibition ask viewers to look again, challenging their initial perceptions about what they see and what they perceive about the context in which the work is made. Tom Smart's accompanying essay introduces each work and its context and discusses the role of the viewer in interpreting art objects and creating meaning, whether viewing works as discrete individual objects or as part of the larger, holistic whole. Exhibition: Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton, Canada (19.10.2019-26.01.2020).

This book examines the interconnections between art, phenomenology, and cognitive studies. Contributors question the binary oppositions generally drawn between visuality and agency, sensing and thinking, phenomenal art and politics, phenomenology and structuralism, and subjective involvement and social belonging. Instead, they foreground the many ways that artists ask us to consider how we sense, think, and act in relation to a work of art.

Using the example of prehistoric paintings discovered in the late 19th century in Spain and France Cave Art, Perception and Knowledge inquires into epistemic questions related to images, depicting and perception that this rich material has given rise to. The book traces the outline of the doxa of cave art studies.

The Art of Perception is the memoir of the man who has been at the forefront of the PR industry for almost fifty years. Robert Leaf, the first executive to bring PR to the Soviet and Chinese governments during the Cold War, has accomplished more than anyone else. He advised corporations and heads of state, rubbed shoulders with some of the twentieth century's most powerful individuals, and controlled some of the biggest news stories of the time. Now, in an age of twenty-four hour news cycles in which global disasters are shared on the most personal levels and events make it from smartphone to headline news in seconds, perception management has never been more essential for individuals and corporations alike. In a memoir which is as informative as it is entertaining, Robert Leaf shares a lifetime's experience in spreading the gospel of PR around the world which will prove invaluable as much for those in PR as to those with an interest in modern media.