ASSIGNMENT

Part 1: Distort normal vision- Using photography, make a visual pun by purposely making a false visual grouping, a visual blooper. Examples of other students work (Please don’t copy any of these):

Part 2: Explain how did you distort normal vision: Briefly describe how your photo or image distorts normal vision and how you achieved the “false image”. In your written description provide a plan or section diagram that explains the disposition of components in space that leads to the “false image”. Finally explain how the image you created is “believable” using the laws of Gestalt psychology to explain how our vision is led to the predisposition to view the image in the manner you intended. [2 pages maximum, 1 PAGE IS FINE]. *All written work is to be double-spaced in 12 pt font

I’m going to attach examples of other students paper for you to get a better idea of how to explain this and Part 3.

Part 3: Explain bracketed vision. Use the Rene Magritte painting The Treachery of Images (provided below) to explain how sign systems operate. In your description be sure to define the constituent parts of a sign system as well as how these parts interact to build a coherent system of meaning. (2 pages maximum 1 PAGE IS FINE)

*Refer to the student examples for a better idea of what bracketed vision is*

Rene Magritte Painting: The Treachery of Images

Part 4: Draw a basic diagram that shows what you did to achieve your photo. EXAMPLES:

PART 5: Comment on your classmates work. Once your project is online, make sure that you read, analyze and comment (in at least 2 paragraphs) the work of 3 of your classmates in their blogs. BE ANALATYCAL rather than ANECDOTAL.

Write 2 short paragraphs for each of the attached student examples (3 Student Examples, 6 Paragraphs Total)

STUDENT EXAMPLES ARE BELOW:

Arch 170

The Illusion

In order to create this illusion I had to bring two different perspectives of space and

combine those perspectives into one. I wanted to take the idea of a “visual pun” to the next level,

which explains why I used a mug and a source of liquid to fuel the concept. My illusion was my

sink faucet pouring water into a mug. In reality the water was actually going into the sink and the

mug remained empty. Before actually attempting the illusion, I thought about a realistic situation

that I could distort easily and came upon this illusion while sitting in my kitchen. The distortion

was probably the most challenging part of creating the illusion because I had to utilize the most

optimal angles and camera placement in order to produce a picture that was not only believable

and deceptive but also well established in terms of quality.

The Gestalt Principles Behind the Illusion

The three primary principles that I employed to create this visual distortion was the law

of closure, the law of proximity and the law of continuity. The law of closure can be described as

the human tendency to group things that may not actually be in contact with each other together.

This principle is evident in my example because your mind would encourage you to assume that

the water is entering the mug when in reality the mug comes nowhere in contact with the water.

The law of continuity is the human tendency to perceive a group of objects that are intersected as

one continuous flowing object. This principle is also present in my example because from the

view that is provided, the cup’s body obscures the path that the water is actually taking. This

leads the viewer to think that the water is continuously flowing into the cup and starting to fill

the cup as a result of this. The law of proximity is the tendency to group together objects that are

near each other, even if they physically are not. This principle is present in my example because

the cup is actually much farther from the faucet than our perspective allows us to process. This

leads the viewer to believe that the cup is directly under the faucet.

Bracketed Vision

Bracketed vision is the raw untranslated information that we process without allowing

cultural influence to shape it. Normal vision is the same processed information but after allowing

cultural influence to morph the information that we process. To go in between the two you have

to be able to exit the space of the specifics of what you see and just focus on seeing it without

culturally associating it with anything. The idea of a sign system is what especially help the

relevance of Bracketed and Normal vision in terms of perception. The constituent parts of a sign

system are the representation or the sign that is the embodiment or the symbol, the idea or the

signified which is the concept that is presented through representation and the abstraction or the

signifier which is what presents the representation in a physical way. The signifier is the physical

aspect of object that you are perceiving while the sign is the true message and the signified is the

overall idea behind the object(s) you are perceiving. The abstraction (signifier) is the physical

version of the representation while the representation (sign) is what the physical version

symbolizes and the concept (signified) is the mental aspect of it all. In the “treachery of images”

the pipe is the abstraction while the message “this is not a pipe” is the representation. But the

concept is to prove the “Treachery of Images” by showing the reader that the pipe is not a real

pipe but only a representation of a pipe.

Reference

Says:, T., Says:, D., Says:, S., Says:, J., Says:, G., & Says:, A. (2016, March 16). An introduction

to semiotics – signifier and signified. Retrieved March 24, 2021, from

An Introduction To Semiotics — Signifier And Signified

3/7/21

The Biological, Social and Cultural Aspects of Understanding Architecture

Normal vision is the way we as humans perceive objects and the world around

us. Things that have normal sizing and normal depth perceptions that don’t make us

question the structure. When I first started this assignment I searched on the internet

deceiving photos. Different photos came up showing the body of a woman and the head

of a man. My first idea was to stand on my chair and put a tissue box on the floor to look

like I am coming out of the box. I was struggling to achieve this and make it look

believable. I took several photos to try and portray this but it didn’t look like I was

standing on the box or coming out of it. I wanted to stick the tissues out a little bit but it

wasn’t working. I then saw the rubber duck on my desk and thought I could do

something with it.

The image I chose to make for this assignment is a small rubber duck being

given water. I put the duck closer to the camera because I realize the closer the duck is

to the camera the bigger it will look in the photo. I then moved to the opposing side of

my desk and held the water up to make it seem like the water was being fed. The duck

from the view of the camera looks as if it is the size of a normal person because of how

close it is to the camera. The water bottle is at the end of my desk further from the

camera. The photo deceives the viewer into believing it is a lifesize rubber duck being

fed water. Outside of the photo there is clearly a size difference of the rubber duck and

water bottle. The water bottle outside of the photo is much bigger than the rubber duck,

but in the photo the bottle is not as big as the rubber duck.

The image I created is believable according to Gestalt psychology. The definition

of Gestalt psychology “is a school of psychology which affirms that all of experience is

made up of integrated patterns or structures that constitute an unanalyzable whole. This

whole has properties that are not capable of being understood nor being derived from a

sum of the responses to specific elements in the situation under analysis”(ELMS). The

law of similarity can be defined as objects that are similar are perceived to be more

related than things dissimilar or objects that look similar in shape and size are perceived

to be grouped together or related. Similarity is clearly used in my photo showing that the

duck is larger than it actually is. Since the duck now looks almost human size and the

water bottle is the size of one someone would drink out of it tricks the brain into thinking

the duck is large and being fed water. Clearly the duck is actually about 2 inches total

but tricks you into thinking the duck is much larger because of how close it is to the

camera.

Bracketed vision is the way people perceive things without culture affecting the

vision. It is the raw sensory impression one gets from looking at something. Normal

vision is with cultural effects and how images are translated to be understood. A stand

out difference between bracketed vision and normal vision is that bracketed vision

“clarity of focus at only one point throughout with a gradient of increasing vagueness

toward the margin (clarity of focus corresponds to the space where light falls upon the

fovea)”(ELMS). For normal vision it is just clarity of focus. Bracketed vision focuses on

one certain point while normal vision focuses on the whole thing. Another example is

that for bracketed vision if a shape is moved the object appears to be deformed but in

normal vision the object appears to be constant. Bracketed vision has no cultural

influences.

Sign systems involve both the sign and the signifier. The sign is the idea/concept

and the signifier is the object to represent the sign and convey to the audience what the

piece is trying to get across. In Rene Magritte painting The Treachery of Images the

pipe is on the painting along with french words for “This is not a pipe”. In this painting

the sign is the words “This is not a pipe” and the signifier is the painting of the pipe. The

sign is that the painting is a painting of a pipe not an actual pipe to show how the

painting is demonstrating surrealism. The signifier is the painting of the pipe to show

that it is a painting that looks realistic but is actually in a painting rather than an actual

pipe.

ARCH170 3.22.2021

Assignment 3

In a normal perspective of vision, people see things how they are. If a ball is on the ground and a

goal is directly behind it, the goal would be much bigger than the ball. If the ball is a farther distance in

front of the goal, the goal will appear smaller, which would show that the two objects are farther apart

from each other. Certain perspectives can be illusionalized when things are placed in specific positions.

Some classic examples are holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa, or pointing at the tip of the Washington

Monument. These would all be classified as examples of proximity.

For my project, I decided to use proximity. This past weekend I was in Washington D.C. with

some friends and I decided to utilize the opportunity of all the monuments and buildings. There were

many chances to take a photo using proximity, but I did not want it to be a basic picture like the

Washington Monument. I walked all around the mall with my friends and nothing seemed right. There

were also quite a lot of people out on this day, so I wanted to avoid having that obstruction in my picture.

I had parked across the Thomas Jefferson Memorial at the Tidal Basin parking. I looked across the large

body of water and realized it was a perfect opportunity to use proximity. So I was about 2,000 feet across

the Jefferson Memorial and I took a picture of what looks like I am holding up the beloved memorial in

my hands. The picture is deceiving since I am actually quite far away from the memorial, but it looks like

I am holding it in my hand. There is the large body of water of what is the Tidal Basin in the picture, but

my hand, that is roughly 2,000 feet away from the memorial, looks as if I am holding the memorial up

above the water in place on the ground in my hand. The deception is that it looks as if I am holding up the

memorial, but really, it is a fair distance away.

According to the Gestalt Principle, this would be proximity. Proximity would be defined as things

that are close to one another are perceived to be more related than things that are spaced farther apart.

This applies in this case since the memorial and my hand would be deceiving that they are similar in that

my hand is holding up the memorial. The Gestalt Principle of the Law of Similarity would also apply

here; the Law of Similarity could be defined as things that are similar are perceived to be more related

than things that are dissimilar. The Law of Similarity applies here since my hand and the memorial are

within the same perspective. It is quite obvious that the Thomas Jefferson Memorial is farther away from

my hand, but the way my hand is placed specifically deceives the eyes of someone looking at this picture.

Bracketed vision can be defined as a raw sensory impression of form and space, solids and voids,

shapes, sounds, color, etc. In simpler terms, it is essentially what we view it as because of what an object

might be named. The main idea of bracketed vision is to understand what the object is in its natural form,

without putting a name to it so one can see the object in its true form. The Rene Magritte painting “The

Treachery of Images,” is a great example of bracketed vision. Magritte’s goal was to show that it is not a

pipe. It very much so looks like a pipe, but by not naming it a pipe, it is simply a representation of a pipe.

Normal vision is what an item is culturally perceived as. We go from thinking it is a pipe (the normal

vision) to thinking it isn’t a pipe because Magritte, who painted the pipe, explained in the title that it is not

a pipe; it is simply a representation of a pipe. The signifier of Magritte’s painting is that it is a symbol or

its meaning is that it looks like a pipe. The signified of Magritte’s painting is that it really is not a pipe, the

goal of this painting is to show that it is not a pipe. The sign of the painting is to show that it is simply a

representation of the pipe and that it is not actually a pipe; it is an example on how to explain bracketed

vision more clearly. Magritte’s “The Treachery of Images” is a great example on how to explain bracketed

vision.