See me, see me change

Leaving art for a moment (and yet to return to my bedroom, to continue the tale of the fallen, or rather struck down, brother, - accidental don’t forget), there are significant issues with images and vision, between languages and cultures. Most people learn particular techniques when learning to read and with reading. I separate the two terms deliberately, and again the concept of bias cognitive thinking works in two ways. Read the following statement:

“Can you qukicly uednrsntad waht is wretitn in this setnnece, or is it too cosufinng?”.

Many people who are comfortable with the English language can read the above sentence quickly, eliminating certain issues with the misspelling of the words and such. Studies have shown that, if the first and last letters are in the correct position, the message can be understood as the brain will draw on it’s knowledge and correctly rearrange the information to make sense of it. Many of the studies with astronauts involved gross (as in extreme) manipulation of their vision to see how quickly they could adapt their cognitive abilities and correctly read, view and co-ordinate their operations. Even, when the various lenses they were wearing, completely inverted and reversed their vision. They adapted. We (that’s the human species, not just the local we) can do that. We can manipulate our existing knowledge and convert its understanding to accept visuals it is not ‘trained’ for. But there is no doubt the training helps. The more one is exposed to visual stimuli, and unusual art or visuals the quicker on can adapt to interpret and use that ‘knowledge’ to interpret what it is seeing, No matter how strange or unexpected.

I did, at one point of my previous career, specialise in creating unusual visual events. Such events would be presented, in the most unexpected of places. Often it was creating an entire ‘landscape’ into which people would enter to ‘party’. One of my most favourite was a complete ‘Dali’ style landscape (‘Persistence of memory’ and combined with ‘Reflections of Elephants) in the ballroom for the opening of a new hotel. Complete with sponge like sand floor and 42 metre fake horizon. Actually the whole function was great, as I got to create each area in the hotel based upon a famous artist. All for one night only. But everyone’s faces, as they entered the main ballroom was a delight. Watching them walk across the soft floor among melting watches and sofa seats (transformed into soft horse bodies)  the unexpectedness of entering into a famous landscape in their formal attire made them shift their consciousness briefly. I say briefly, because they quickly absorbed and adapted to the actual surroundings, both in the change of technique required to safely walk on the surface, as well as to the effect of the faked horizon and to the change in light. The human mind and the body, can adapt very quickly. There may of course be further adjustments, such as when leaving the room and returning to the normal floor of the adjoining ‘Miro” room. But adjust they did. As we all adjust to such visual changes and physical challenges.

(Continued tomorrow)