theory In The Senses Considered as Perceptual System s, J J Gibson theorised that the five senses are more accurately described as systems in which individual senses work together. A basic orienting system picks up gravitational and acceleration forces to create a frame of reference for all the other systems. The auditory system responds to vibrations in the air and is able to detect the direction of the source. The haptic system is made up of a number of subsystems that relate to the sense of touch, and is extended to include temperature, pain, pressure and kinæsthesia, or body sensation and muscle movement. 1 The visual system collaborates with all of the other systems to register information – movement, depth, texture and colour – through the medium of ambient light. Together, haptic and visual systems are responsible for spatial experience: the understanding of three-dimensional space. Although the visual system is the only source of input when looking at a photograph, Gibson has suggested that the other systems are activated in the process of reading an image. The connection between haptic and visual systems in the understanding of space is also found in Deleuze’s discussion of figuration in painting. Perception (understanding of the body in a painting) is not only generated optically, ‘but take[s] on a sculptural or tactile quality (depth, contour, relief), producing the illusion of a three-dimensional world behind the frame.’ 2 This phenomenon, termed tactile-optical space, uses visual cues in paintings and by extension, images, to construct a tactile reading of space. In his study of Francis Bacon, Deleuze proposed colour as the critical element in this process: a haptic vision of colour links colour to image in ‘a strong eye-hand relation’ – Bacon’s ‘juxtaposition of pure tones arranged gradually on the flat surface’ show the human body deformed by the forces that act upon it. Sensory systems work together, in combination, to construct our understanding of the world. The surface in front of you can confirm this phenomenon. Without touching it, one can see its level of reflectivity, its texture, and will infer how that surface would feel when touched. 3 Haptic vision combined with experience communicates temperature, texture, malleability and a number of other characteristics. In the way that a basic orienting system provides a frame of reference, so too does memory, which we draw on to make linkages between the different types of sensory input.
Yoshikien Garden in Nara: this path has challenges that require focus to navigate. Visually the separation between path and garden is not as well defined as other paths here, so while the lack of contrast causes the path to blend in with the garden, it demands more physical attention.
27
Michael Blois
1 J J Gibson. The Senses Considered as Perceptual Systems . Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1966 2 Daniel W Smith. ‘Deleuze on Bacon: Three conceptual trajectories in The Logic of Sensation’ in Francis
Bacon, The logic of Sensation , 1981 Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. 2003 3 Michael Blois. Corporeal Architecture: a material response to sensorial experience . Master’s thesis, Ryerson University, 2010.
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator