A phenomenological ground for relational perception

Abstract

Relational perception is a cognitive act enabling users to both epistemically handle a given object and ontologically reason about it. The condition for such a perceptive act is fully dependent on an understanding of support relations and knowledge of the situation at hand. Such knowledge according to this article is present and afforded by a ground condition. According to James J. Gibson the ground is what supports the survival of the animal. In other words, the discoverability of the environment, its textures and surfaces, and therefore the animal’s abilities to navigate and interact with it relies strictly on perception. Additionally, this article posits the importance of relational perception in experiencing artistic practices. It presents a strong argument in support of a philosophy of becoming, where aesthetics, materiality, and haptic relations, are interweaved and experienced as an architected landscape. In this regard, artworks are not simply viewed, but become lived space, as they afford an amalgamation of mental constructs and affective phenomenological experiences.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Chahid Akoury

Chahid Akoury specialises in teaching foundation year design studios, design history and theory, and visual communication. His research interests are in space and phenomenology, design thinking and embodied cognition, philosophy and perception. His writings have been published in international journals on art and design. He served as a contributing editor for The International Journal of Art and Design Education. In 2014 he published a book titled, ‘Creative Deactualization’ as part of the media philosophy series with Atropos Press. In recent years he published the articles, ‘Perceptive Destabilizations: Design as Incessant Performance’ in The International Journal of Design Education (Common Grounds Research Networks) 2018; ‘Apprehending the Creative Process through Drawing in the Foundation Design Studio’ in The International Journal of Art and Design Education (Wiley) 2020; and ‘Immersive Experiences as the Condition of Possibility for Affective Spacing’ in Continuum (Taylor & Francis) 2020.