RECONSTITUTING PERCEPTION
Instructors - Shiqiao Li
Location - Charlottesville, Virginia
Fall 2016
From my initial studies of Newtons’ Telescope, I became interested in the concept of vision, and how the use of the instrument allowed that vision to be magnified. However, Vision in modern times has fundamentally changed the way the world is perceived. Today, one cannot function without the television, computer or smart phone as we are glued to these devices, clouding our perception of reality. We have in essence lost the magnification of technology and have instead, narrowed our vision. The eye is perhaps the most powerful of the senses, creating visual connections between all of the senses through color, light and visualization.
This installation seeks to represent the eye as a mechanical machine, generating signals and light through the representation of a display panel. The retina of the eye is the processing element of light, forming the image as it passes through the cornea and lens. As a curved element, the light is focused through the lens into the cones and rods of the retina, deciphering white light and colored light. The modern display screen is a flat plane, composed of pixels, lights and processors. By creating a panel out of a series of circuit boards, the relation ship of the retina and the human becomes mechanical in nature. Through layering, different layers of density can be created, forminga complex series of overlapping elements, representing the networks and assemblages of the eye and brain. These elements begin to define the notion of space through section, whether that be perceived or occupied throughout the structure.
As one stands on either side of the installation, the viewer from the other side can be seen through holes, cuts and lenses embedded into the structure, creating different experiences as one moves their eyes across the panel. The panel forces the viewers to look within themselves and understand vision as a network of parts, nodes and connections. It is a matrix of assemblages, linked together through layers, circuits and transparency to form the visual signal created to confront the human fear of the machine.
