Word: cavanagh
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Through a careful survey of many works of art, confirmed by experiments on perception, Cavanagh has discovered that the only requirements for realistic depictions of shadows are that they be transparent and darker than their immediate surroundings. He has shown that reflections, like shadows, are a mystery to the human mind; their representation in art has but a few of the limitations which govern reality. He maintains, in a similar vein as Livingstone, that Impressionist art is so appealing because intentional blurring may connect representations more directly to emotional centers in the brain rather than to conscious image-recognition areas...
...order to replicate them in their works. And their comprehension of the weak points in human visual perception has become a boon to modern researchers. “You can figure out from artists and what they do just what the simple rules of vision are,” Cavanagh says. “And that’s a real advantage, it’s like lots of research done for free...
Even while artists act like scientists and scientists like art historians, it is not easy to decipher the role the sciences should play in the expansive field of art history. While Cavanagh maintains that an understanding of human visual perception is helpful and informative in—if not essential to—the study of art, Livingstone understands that barriers do exist. While some scientific developments, like fractal analysis, have already swept the world of art history, she claims, others may not be accepted so easily by art historians. “Anything innovative takes time to be understood...
Despite even these gravest of doubts, Fehrenbach admits that in certain areas the approaches taken by Cavanagh, Livingstone, and the Vision Sciences Laboratory in the interpretation of artworks could be a fertile foundation for greater understanding. These areas, however, are not particularly numerous; nor do they initially seem to offer the same boundless opportunity that researchers like Cavanagh envision in the confluence between art history and the science of perception...
...other. To a certain extent, both seek to understand the membrane between art and science—the liminal area between art and science that has spawned many a discussion, particularly as the sciences continue to grow beyond the confines of their laboratories and into the cultural mainstream. Cavanagh, in discussing whether a background understanding of visual perception can inform the study of art, acknowledges that it certainly depends upon what the individual in question is interested in studying. He gives precedence to an understanding through symbolism and cultural context in many instances. Fehrenbach, too, occupies a bit of this...