Synopses & Reviews
The sculptor, Jürgen Weber, whose work is to be found in many parts of the world - from Washington D.C. to Nuremberg - presents his experience of how forms convey contents. He does not ask the usual questions about perception, but rather he is concerned with how the visual world expresses information over and above its mere existence. Is it experience that allows us to differentiate between a dangerous face and one that inspires trust? Is that the reason why we see that buds will soon open, that leaves will unfurl, that trees have had to grow in all weathers or do we have at our disposal categories which we use to pass judgement? The way that our visual environment conveys its information to us is one of the most important questions for our survival. Up till now it has rarely been investigated in a systematic and scientific way. Weber assumes that the visual areas of our brains have geometrical categories at their disposal with which they compare the visual phenomena of our environment. Conclusions are then drawn from the differences to them. This is the basis upon which he also explains our visual memories. He brings together various disciplines ranging from psychiatry, children's drawings, comparable archaeological finds and works of art, to the observation of nature, his own experiments as an artist and surveys of thousands of his students and has thus developed a new theory of perception which also considerably extends our knowledge about threedimensional sight. There is no doubt that this book represents a unique, timely contribution to the many disciplines that are concerned with the wonder of perception. It might even influence the development of computer science.
Synopsis
Includes bibliographical references (p. 115) and index.
Synopsis
The author, Jürgen Weber, brings together the results of various disciplines and his own research and experience as a sculptor and painter and stitches together an exciting new theory of perception of form. In doing so, Weber - who also has a scientific background - explores the fascinating question of what additional information the thing that is seen conveys. How do we tell the difference between a cheerful and a gloomy face? Why do we see that a bud will open shortly? Why do we find some phenomena to be dangerous and others to be desirable? These question have not yet been investigated in a systematic and scientific way, although they are of vital importance to our behaviour. No doubt, this book represents a unique and timely contribution to the many disciplines concerned with the wonders of perception.
Table of Contents
PART I: Geometric Concepts of the Visual Cortex as the Basis of Visual Information.- Short Summary of the Main Ideas; What Is Seeing? How Visual Memory Is Affected by Agnosia and Alzheimer's Disease; What Do Infants Recognize and What Do Their Visual Memories Look Like?; The Conclusions of Gestalt Psychology and Its Limitations; My Question: How Do Forms Convey Content? Are There Visual Categories of Expression?; The Rosette; Contraction and Expansion; The Classification of Memory Pictures by Students. Reproduction Memory - Identification Memory; The "Orbits" and Their Application; The Start of Ornamentation All Over the World and At All Times; Actual Enlargement and Reduction; Rotated Surfaces.- PART II: Form and Movement; The Metamorphosis of Geometry in Egyptian Art; The Metamorphoses of Geometry in the Painting and Sculpture of Greece; Movement Schemata; And Once Again the Visual Memory; So-called Naturalism.- Summing up; Bibliography.- Index.- Figures