The Science and Philosophy of Visual Perception: Lecture by Artist Simon Bill

At one time, thinking about Visual Perception was a significant feature of higher education in visual art. Rudolf Arnheim's Art & Visual Perception was considered a standard text, but it has since practically disappeared from art schools. This decline may be due to its perceived incompatibility with Critical Theory, which is unfortunate, as the subject of visual perception has been developing rapidly elsewhere, particularly in neuroscience and philosophy. While Critical Theory has its merits, it does have substantial gaps.

The lecture begins by exploring various cultural phenomena related to visual perception, outside the realm of neuroscience, that many people may have encountered. These include 3D movies, Seurat's 'optical blending', Op Art, the 'Magic Eye' craze of the 90s, Victorian stereoscopic viewers, Duchamp's rotoreliefs, The Matrix, Virtual Reality, and internet phenomena like 'the dress'.

The subject is then examined in its two principal academic settings – in the Arts & Humanities and in Science. Perception in the Arts & Humanities is approached through Merleau-Ponty's Phenomenology of Perception, with particular attention to the common claim made by Merleau-Ponty scholars that his views were informed by a detailed knowledge of the science of perception. However, Simon Bill argues that this was not the case.

The mid-section of the lecture delves into Gestalt psychology as a mediating discipline and highlights the period in Fine Art education when Arnheim's Gestaltist Art and Visual Perception was a key text in art education.

In the final part, a variety of optical illusions are presented. Bill introduces the basics of current research in cognitive and neuro-psychology, describing the top-down/bottom-up model of perception, and focuses on the use of optical illusions in vision research. Examples include older illusions like the Müller-Lyer illusion as well as more recent, mind-boggling, almost psychedelic illusions created by researchers like Akiyoshi Kitaoka.

The Speaker
Simon Bill is a British artist known for his work in drawing, painting, and exploring themes of visual perception and optics. His practice engages with the psychology of perception, visual illusions, and how the brain processes visual information, often drawing on neuroscience and philosophy. Bill has also lectured on these topics, bridging art and science, and has delivered talks to audiences ranging from biology researchers at the Gulbenkian Science Institute (where he was an artist-in-residence) to fine art students at various universities. Through his work, he challenges the boundaries between art and science, using visual perception as a lens to explore human cognition.

Booking is required due to limited capacity. 

The Brown Collection is fully accessible. Please let us know if you have specific requirements when booking. 

Light refreshments will be served. 

Any queries please email: laurie@glenn-brown.co.uk