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Fields of vision - perceptual landscapes. :a practice-based investigation of the structure of Diplopia

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Hacket, Paul Martyn (2009) Fields of vision - perceptual landscapes. :a practice-based investigation of the structure of Diplopia. PhD thesis, University of Gloucestershire.

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Official URL: https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/10976/

Abstract

This studio-based research is concerned with the process of human-perception, its intimate connection with the practice of painting and the traditional visual trope known as "the grid." The study examines how my condition of diplopia ( double vision) distorts my view of the world and how diplopia, can influence the creation of painted grid based configurations. In this dissertation the axiomatic grid is defined as a series of straight lines that intersect orthogonally at consistent intervals, forming an inflexible image that dissects its own visual field. The research began with a comprehensive review of contemporary art works, as well as scientific and art historical literature that reference the grid. A mapping sentence was then developed to define the variable components of the metaphorical and figurative depictions of the grid found within the art traditions of the modernist and post-modernist eras. Cognitive neuroscience and Gestalt psychology were employed to facilitate the understanding of human visual perception and my own ocular impairment and to guide the progression ofmy painting during the research. Close observation ofmy unusual vision, along with heuristic practice, resulted in the creation of paintings, and to a lesser extent drawings and prints, that were created by overlaying imagery depicting four grids (two axiomatic, two perspectival) in the same plane. The latter arrangement of lines represented my diplopic visual field, the former the 'normal' visual field, thereby demonstrating the effects ofmy diplopia. This research contributes significantly to contemporary fine art practice as both biology and psychology have been used to inform my representations of delineated grid images. The resulting paintings, etc., reveal how the experience ofmy diplopia mediates my perception and my comprehension of Cartesian space. To my knowledge, diplopia has never been investigated through the act of painting whilst referencing findings from cognitive neuroscience. Through this study, I have formulated a deeper awareness of the process ofmy own visual perception and a greater comprehension of human-perceptual processes.

Item Type:

Thesis (PhD)

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