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visper Kathleen Bedard

Visper (defintion of): "whisper" said with a scandinavian accent?
Okay so I don't really know what "visper" means but that was my constructed definition upon looking at the word.

I decided to write a little bit about mirror neurons along with my discussion of the visual perception lecture.

Visual Perception and Culture


Looking, on the surface, has always seemed involuntary; a sort of automaton action that occurs because humans were given retina, pupils, and an optic nerve. One simply has to point their eyes in the right direction and information is processed as is; or at least that’s what a lot of people think looking is. I suppose, to some extent, seeing or looking can fall under that description. More often, looking is an engaged and complex process involving several parts of the brain. Looking involves memory, especially. What we see and the resulting emotions and thoughts evoked are directly connected to our memories and experiences.

Think of a banana. When you see a banana what do you think? “I’m hungry”, maybe one thought that pops up. In that case, the banana elicits a memory directly related to consuming said fruit in order to stave off hunger. Perhaps you think of a certain video you viewed on U-Tube that involved fire. The image of the banana comes to mean something completely specific to you because of your own personal experience with it. Such visual connections are important to the artist because they are a way of making art appeal to the individual. Each audience views images and objects a little differently. A truly successful piece of art must then be something universal that triggers memory in each individual viewing it. At the same time, the art cannot be so universal as to be predictable and boring. The art must engage the memory and elicit associations; it must make the viewer concentrate on looking as a thoughtful experience rather than just a routine function.

The philosophers of old thought man could perceive the universe outside of their own conscious. In a sense, they believed man could step outside of his own experience and examine the world completely unbiased. Everything could be observed and every question could be answered free of human error and input. We now know that such a state is impossible; we cannot separate ourselves from our own conscious. Everything we hear, see, touch, taste, smell, and process carries the stain of our personal history. Schema, models or structures of human thought, constantly taint our perception. They act as a basis to refer back to, linking what we see currently to what we have seen and experienced before. Thus, the schemas create expectations of sorts. Those expectations can either aid us in learning and progression, or blind us with prejudice. Because schemas are linked so indefinitely with our current and past circumstances, it is easy to see how they can interfere with our grasping of concepts that don’t follow what we already know. Perhaps this is why humans have such trouble relating to people of different backgrounds. We allow ourselves to enter into an undisturbed pattern of thought and assumptions, avoiding anything that might disrupt our complacency with how things “should be”. Acknowledgment of the fragility of personal “truth” formed by our schemas is a big step towards understanding and acceptance. Like memory, schemas are important when thinking about creating pieces. A successful piece will play off existing schema, serving to break, challenge, or reinforce them. Modern and contemporary art in particular have sought to break these schemas, challenging the viewer to think about concepts from differing perspectives. Such art can sometimes be considered controversial because the messages in them so very effectively break down current thought and ideology.

While our schemas often affect the way we see and understand the world, nature has equipped us with a universal means of relating: the mirror neuron. Responsible for the streak of empathy found in all mentally sound human beings, the mirror neuron triggers a sort of connection between people. With this connection, we are able to feel one another’s pain and happiness as if it were our own. Looking is an essential means of engaging the neurons. The act of looking engages the brain and relates the action or circumstance we are viewing to us personally. Thus, watching a basketball game involves some of the same mental functions as playing. Images or objects of smiling people thereby create the sense of happiness within the viewer. Considering the effect looking has on mirror neurons can go a long way when trying to establish certain emotions within a piece. The artist must effectively answer the question of how to address these neurons most effectively.

As an artist living in a competitive world, it is imperative to consider the various ways in which looking and perceiving are affected. As we strive to create meaningful and engaging works, we must keep in mind our audience and how they view their world while alternately getting them to relate to how we see our own.

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