Binding Problems
2014. Dimensions variable. Apple, acrylic paint.
What neural mechanisms keep the colors of an apple where they belong? The aspects which comprise an object in our visual scene - color, form, orientation, motion, and meaning – are all processed in different dedicated parts of the brain. While it does not feel difficult, it is in fact remarkable that everything belonging to itself, after being processed separately, ends up cohered in its rightful place. Skin color is never mistakenly swapped for shirt color, for example. "Binding problem" is the term used in neuroscience and philosophy of mind research to refer to the mystery of how the brain "binds" perceptual information together to form a single, seamless conscious experience.
This work focuses on color, revealing the delicate complexity of our perceptual system and exposing what our experience of the world could be like without it.
What neural mechanisms keep the colors of an apple where they belong? The aspects which comprise an object in our visual scene - color, form, orientation, motion, and meaning – are all processed in different dedicated parts of the brain. While it does not feel difficult, it is in fact remarkable that everything belonging to itself, after being processed separately, ends up cohered in its rightful place. Skin color is never mistakenly swapped for shirt color, for example. "Binding problem" is the term used in neuroscience and philosophy of mind research to refer to the mystery of how the brain "binds" perceptual information together to form a single, seamless conscious experience.
This work focuses on color, revealing the delicate complexity of our perceptual system and exposing what our experience of the world could be like without it.
Concept sketches for an expanded installation:
"Digital Transplants" at Lightoom Gallery. Courtesy of Bojana Ginn.
"Digital Transplants" at Lightoom Gallery. Courtesy of Bojana Ginn.
Courtesy of Propeller Gallery.
All images © Julia Buntaine Hoel
