The perception of art and the science of perception

For many centuries, artists have studied the nature of visual experience and how to convincingly render what we see. The results of these investigations can be found in all the countless artworks deposited in museums and galleries around the world. Works of art represent a rich source of ideas and understanding about how the world appears to us, and only relatively recently have those interested in the science of vision started to appreciate the many discoveries made by artists in this field. In this paper I will discuss some key insights into vision and perception revealed by artists, and show how they can help current thinking in science and technology about how best to understand the process of seeing. In particular, I will suggest some artistic ideas continue to present fundamental challenges to conventional ideas about the nature of visual experience and how it is represented.

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