archives@tulane.edu / I often find myself drawn toward objects that most would consider mundane. I am compelled to reevaluate subject matter that I have previously conditioned myself to disregard, investigate what I believe to know about the objects, and consider their new potential based on unexpected findings. My thesis exhibition explores my initial perception of repurposed cardboard boxes by fabricating realistic and formally exaggerated variations of them in clay. The three distinct categories of work within the show (trompe l’eoil boxes, abstracted cardboard boxes, and fragmented wall pieces) are an embodiment of my analytical approach to observing cardboard with a fresh perspective. Trompe l’eoil boxes provide a frame of reference. Abstracted cardboard boxes utilize unexpected characteristics of cardboard—as well as recognizable traits of clay—to challenge preconceived notions of how a cardboard box looks and functions. Wall pieces that partially resemble torn scraps of cardboard questions what remains of objects incapable of serving their intended function, while also discussing cardboard and clay materiality. A one-dimensional perspective of cardboard boxes presents them as utilitarian vessels, manufactured without ostentatious appeal, designed to protect objects we cherish, and meant to ultimately be discarded without contemplation. Through unbiased observation, formally and conceptually multifaceted layers emerge from behind initial perceptions of the box. / 1 / Holly E Ross

This thesis will investigate how architecture can heighten the experience of obtaining information in a sensual environment. As such, I will explore the use of perception as a physical and mental tool to gather and share information of one\'s sensual environment. I have looked at perception into two parts, Activity and Passivity. Activity is defined as obtaining information of an environment through sensory experience focusing on sight, sound and touch. Passivity is the way in which our minds filter and render the physical environment into memorable experiences. By reestablishing a connection to the sensory environment we open ourselves to an opportunity to share our experiences with others. This project will be a unique information center that explores the concept of gathering the sensual information of a particular area and analyzing said information to formulate characteristics of place.

How can perception yield knowledge of the world? One challenge in answering this question is that one necessarily perceives from a particular location. Thus, what is immediately perceptually available is subject to situational features, such as lighting conditions and ones location. Nonetheless, one can perceive the shape and color of objects. My dissertation aims to provide an explanation for how this is possible. The main thesis is that giving such an explanation requires abandoning the traditional model of perception as a two-place relation between subjects and objects in favor of a model of perception as a three-place relation between subjects, objects, and situations. In a first part, I show that treating perception as a three-place relation allows one to embrace the motivations for phenomenalism and indirect realism by recognizing that objects are presented a certain way, while preserving the intuition that subjects directly perceive objects. Second, it allows one to acknowledge that perceptions are not just individuated by the objects they are of, but by the way those objects are presented given the situational features. In a second part, I spell out the consequences of the situation-dependency of perception for perceptual content. I argue that a view on which perception represents objects is compatible with the idea that perception is a matter of standing in relation to objects, if perceptual content is understood in terms of potentially gappy content schema. If one acknowledges that perception is both relational and representational, the problems of pure relationalist and pure intentionalist accounts can be avoided. In contrast to pure relationalism, such a view explains how veridical and hallucinatory experiences can be phenomenologically indistinguishable. Both experiences share a common content schema. But in contrast to pure intentionalism, the view explains how the content of these experiences differ. In the case of a veridical experience, the content schema is saturated by an object. In a hallucination, the content schema is gappy. My dissertation explores the implications of these ideas for the particularity of perception and the relation between perceptual consciousness, content, and attention.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University. / "Being vol. XIII, no. 1, of Columbia university contributions of philosophy, psychology and education. The results, of this research were presented before the Section of anthropology and psychology of the New York academy of sciences, and the monograph is published under the auspices of the Academy."

Filmmaker Roman Polanski declares in his autobiography that he was greatly influenced by renowned neuropsychologist Richard L. Gregory (1923-2010), whose work, Polanski claims, gave scientific confirmation to many of his own beliefs regarding the nature of perception. Gregory was a strong advocate for what is referred to as the ‘indirect’ theory of perception, a theoretical model that stresses the agency of cognition, specifically hypothesisation, in the act of perceiving. This analysis of Polanski’s cinema is guided by an exploration of perceptual psychology, with special attention paid to how the theory of indirect perception differs from competing, and often more intuitive, models of perception. The two main focuses of this thesis are: a) to identify the ways in which Polanski’s cinematography is actively informed by neuropsychological research on perception, and b) to discuss the various ways in which the key philosophical implications of the theory of indirect perception find expression in his cinema. My analysis will focus primarily on two (unofficial) ‘trilogies’, what I refer to as the ‘Apartment Trilogy’ of Repulsion (1965), Rosemary’s Baby (1968), and The Tenant (1976), and the ‘Investigation Trilogy’ of Chinatown (1974), Frantic (1988) and The Ninth Gate (1999). Also included are minor case studies of Knife in the Water (1962), Death and the Maiden (1994), and The Ghost (2010). This thesis hopes to demonstrate the manner in which Polanski’s cinematic engagement with perceptual psychology evolves over his career, from more psychologically intimate explorations of the perceptual mechanism via portrayals of schizophrenia in his earlier films, to more distant studies of highly proficient perceiving bodies who are nevertheless confronted with serious challenges to their perceptual (and epistemological) frameworks.

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The Subject chosen for this thesis is the interior of a room and its myriad aspects. When experienced subjectively it can appear as an outer protection or barrier for inner turmoil, providing security, shelter and privacy, or the direct opposite, four walls unnaturally imprisoning that which should be free. Objectively it provides a startling array of forms shapes and textures, both functional and nonfunctional, rigid and organic. The visual tensions influence and condition the actions and thoughts of the human figure within this environment. A room contains within its four walls residue of human thoughts, actions and emotions, a visual catalyst of memories and associations ; past and present. A room is in a constant state of evolution expressing itself in movements from light and dark - a place where time and space can be measurable. I have tried using a variety of means: signs and symbols, dots, dashes, line and tone to capture at once the stationary together with the transitory nature of observed appearances. I have dwelt on and emphasised those ambiguities which have arisen out of the process of creating an image and may reveal something of another reality.... of those submerged realities behind appearances and beyond normal consciousness. The language of an artist is able to cast a glimmer of light on those essential truths.....truths which normally elude civilised man. This thesis provides for sensory and visual appreciation rather than intellectual gratification (thus the emphasis on visual rather than written work). It comprises of a series of drawings, covering some aspects of one particular interior .... in this instance, my livingroom - an immediate environment. The drawings are essentially a visual record of sensory thinking, emotional and free-form imaginative interpretation of commonplace objects. The drawings follow a sequence, both chronologically and in thought development towards painting in which the experience gained of the room, crystallises in paint, size and colour adding dimension. The drawings should perform a dual role, one of providing a direct link with unconscious creative processes, and one of showing a developing awareness of the vital forces and movements that motivate a painting and validate the act of creating it. A variety of techniques have been used, each in its turn revealing some significant facet of the interior. Mixed media drawings predominate, for this media with its own unique properties, is capable of providing a bridge ..... an interlocking of concept and technique where image and media are inseparable.

In this thesis, I examine a 'conceptualist' theory of perceptual experience, according to which: Conceptualism: Any normal human perceptual experience has the representational content that it does exclusively in virtue of its drawing into operation concepts that the subject of the experience possesses at the time of the experience. The main aim of the thesis is to establish whether this theory is true or false.

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<p> My work has a sense of artifact with a raw natural appearance. I respond to artifactual qualities of my work on a visceral and conceptual level. I see the artifact as being able to speak not just about change, but also about the history of civilizations. The connection of the natural to mechanized systems speaks of the current state of the landscape. I am interested in our civilization in the 21st century and how we interact with the landscape. We often have the best intentions in mind but in actuality we cause more harm than good. Through the tangible experiences that shape our lives we see death, decay, and rebirth. These extremes in life and nature reveal the perception of my own impermanence. I create objects representative of natural processes of time and life and depict a depleted barren future of our fragile landscape. </p>