no.1

James Smith

Verwood Dorset

Paradox – ‘That which is apparently, though not actually, inconsistent with or opposed to the known facts in any case.’

My ceramic objects both explore and demonstrate the concept of a cognitive paradox. They are arranged or constructed in such a way that when viewed from a specific point in the space around the object, a paradox can be perceived that may contradict the perceived knowledge of the observer. My choice of clay is a conscious attempt to control the material by minimising shrinking and warping in order to create uniform objects. The role of the audience is crucial to the success of the work, and the relationship between object and audience is an integral part. It is important that the audience can experience the pieces from all conceivable angles, allowing them to discover the viewpoints unaided. The work does not attempt to trick the audience; instead it attempts to draw attention to the reliability of our visual perceptions, thus addressing the argument that reality is only as we define it.

My visual research is an exploration of visual perception. The work explores how the human visual experience of a three-dimensional world can be rendered onto a flat surface, while illustrating how this process can produce deceptive imagery. The method through which I achieve this is by animating the construction process of the suggested objects. Through this, it is my intention to reverse the process through which similar deceptive imagery is usually experienced. Instead of presenting the audience with a deceptive image, and allowing them to decipher how it may be constructed, the audience will see how the situation is constructed before they are presented with any deceptions. From this it is my ambition to create a form of magic that hides no secrets, existing only in the minds of its audience. By giving the audience control over how they view the animations, it is hoped that the audience will feel totally satisfied that they have not been tricked.

The underlying difference between the ceramics and visual research is that the ceramics exists in three dimensions, where as the visual research is a suggestion of three dimensions. The similarity being that the deception in both exists only in the mind of the observer and not in reality.