Our Vivid Imaginations
Preconscious Ocular Aesthetics: Returning to a Fictitious Point in the Photography’s History through an Experimental Arts Practice View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Michael Gray
This paper focusses on an alternative photographic aesthetic based on the human eye which may have evolved given a different set of historic technical developments in photography. In broad terms this aesthetic is dependent on the recording medium being far more sophisticated than the lens, the opposite of how photography actually evolved. The paper references an art practice based on single element lenses which materially reduce phenomena to what may be experienced preconsciously inside the human eye. The paper then aligns the practical outcomes with aspects of phenomenology (Merleau-Ponty 1945/2013) and the optical unconscious (Benjamin, Jennings et al. 1931/2005). In phenomenological terms, the aesthetic produced privileges the biology of the human eye over the processing power of the visual cortex; a preconscious ocular aesthetic over conscious perception. The paper contends that when viewing images that approach a fundamental, yet unknown, visual experience the viewer partially has access to preconscious visual phenomenon. The results highlight how photography has always strived to produce a uniform, sharp plane of focus which in turn falsely maintains that human beings biologically experience the world in a similar manner. The study also extends aspects of Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s (1945) ‘indeterminate vision’ and Walter Benjamin’s (1936) ‘optical unconscious’ whilst bringing the two together. The paper realises how an arts practice can incorporate the agency of materials (Carter, 2004) to approach traditionally intellectual enquiry in novel ways.
Art in the Home: A Photographic Series Documenting the Cultural Display of Artwork within Domestic Spaces
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Sarah Mc Adam
I present a practice-based enquiry, investigating the display of visual art in the home. Through a series of photographs and accompanying paper I will articulate my findings on the culture of display, with specific reference to the display of artwork within the home. The work explores the relationship between the owner, artwork and the domestic space, and the decisions made by owners when displaying art within their home. I consider the wider cultural meanings that can be revealed by interrogating the owner’s relationship with a piece of art through concepts such as taste, design and most significantly, identity. I propose that the display of the chosen artwork within the domestic space, in tandem with the viewing of this artwork, is an act of self-reflection where the artwork is embedded within the minutiae of the material culture in the home, bringing a new reading to the artwork itself. The primary themes explored throughout my research ask: how are artworks, specifically paintings, displayed within domestic homes? How do those displays inform and impact the owners’ everyday lives? By conducting interviews with participants, I was able to further investigate the impact of the surrounding material culture on the viewing experience and on identity more widely. I present viewers with representations of aspects of the owner’s personal identity as presented to the world through material culture and consequently the display of the owner’s cultural capital. Viewing artwork amidst their everyday material life is a reinforcement of the owner’s identity as culturally engaged.
