Layers of Perception: Meditation #3, 2023

NFT Video work

Unique

PRICE: 6 ETH

Continuing from my 2017 “Learning to see” series, “Layers of perception” continues my exploration into using state-of-the-art Machine Learning (AI) technologies to investigate human perception, and more broadly speaking, our self affirming cognitive biases, our inability to see the world from others’ points of view, and the resulting social and political polarization.

We see the world through a very specific lens. A lens shaped by both our evolutionary history and biology, and our upbringing and culture. 

We have evolved to perceive space at certain scales, scales relevant to our ancestors, prey, predators and immediate environment. Animals, rocks, trees; ranging from grains of sand to mountains. We do have the incredible capacity to build tools to sense scales much smaller and much larger. But we cannot intuitively comprehend these scales, the quantum weirdness of the subatomic realm, or the dynamics of supermassive galactic structures many light years across.

Similarly, we have evolved to perceive time at certain scales, timescales relevant to our ancestors and their activities. And again, though we are able to build tools to sense timescales much smaller and much larger, we cannot comprehend the femtosecond timescales of subatomic particle dynamics, or the geological timescales of erosion, or the cosmic timescales of star and galaxy formation.

The lens through which we see the world is also shaped by our upbringing and culture. It is a very convincing illusion that the reality which we perceive is the truth, the full truth, and nothing but the truth. This illusion, that our individual perceived “reality” is the one true reality, is not compatible with the global communities in which we live, and leaves us vulnerable to political manipulation and polarization, distracting us from the crises we need to solve together.

“Layers of perception” bridges vastly different realities and scales of space and time. For a brief moment, the commonalities between radically different worlds are brought together, and shown in a unified vision. And in doing so, similar to “Learning to see”, the piece works on dual layers. It uses the natural limitations of our neurobiological perception and related biases, as a metaphor to reflect on the limitations of our higher level cognition, how we make meaning, and what we consider to be the truth, and our “reality”.

Layers of Perception: Meditation #2, 2023

NFT Video work

Unique

PRICE: 6 ETH

Continuing from my 2017 “Learning to see” series, “Layers of perception” continues my exploration into using state-of-the-art Machine Learning (AI) technologies to investigate human perception, and more broadly speaking, our self affirming cognitive biases, our inability to see the world from others’ points of view, and the resulting social and political polarization.

We see the world through a very specific lens. A lens shaped by both our evolutionary history and biology, and our upbringing and culture. 

We have evolved to perceive space at certain scales, scales relevant to our ancestors, prey, predators and immediate environment. Animals, rocks, trees; ranging from grains of sand to mountains. We do have the incredible capacity to build tools to sense scales much smaller and much larger. But we cannot intuitively comprehend these scales, the quantum weirdness of the subatomic realm, or the dynamics of supermassive galactic structures many light years across.

Similarly, we have evolved to perceive time at certain scales, timescales relevant to our ancestors and their activities. And again, though we are able to build tools to sense timescales much smaller and much larger, we cannot comprehend the femtosecond timescales of subatomic particle dynamics, or the geological timescales of erosion, or the cosmic timescales of star and galaxy formation.

The lens through which we see the world is also shaped by our upbringing and culture. It is a very convincing illusion that the reality which we perceive is the truth, the full truth, and nothing but the truth. This illusion, that our individual perceived “reality” is the one true reality, is not compatible with the global communities in which we live, and leaves us vulnerable to political manipulation and polarization, distracting us from the crises we need to solve together.

“Layers of perception” bridges vastly different realities and scales of space and time. For a brief moment, the commonalities between radically different worlds are brought together, and shown in a unified vision. And in doing so, similar to “Learning to see”, the piece works on dual layers. It uses the natural limitations of our neurobiological perception and related biases, as a metaphor to reflect on the limitations of our higher level cognition, how we make meaning, and what we consider to be the truth, and our “reality”.

Layers of Perception: Meditation #1, 2023

NFT Video work

Unique

PRICE: 6 ETH

Continuing from my 2017 “Learning to see” series, “Layers of perception” continues my exploration into using state-of-the-art Machine Learning (AI) technologies to investigate human perception, and more broadly speaking, our self affirming cognitive biases, our inability to see the world from others’ points of view, and the resulting social and political polarization.

We see the world through a very specific lens. A lens shaped by both our evolutionary history and biology, and our upbringing and culture. 

We have evolved to perceive space at certain scales, scales relevant to our ancestors, prey, predators and immediate environment. Animals, rocks, trees; ranging from grains of sand to mountains. We do have the incredible capacity to build tools to sense scales much smaller and much larger. But we cannot intuitively comprehend these scales, the quantum weirdness of the subatomic realm, or the dynamics of supermassive galactic structures many light years across.

Similarly, we have evolved to perceive time at certain scales, timescales relevant to our ancestors and their activities. And again, though we are able to build tools to sense timescales much smaller and much larger, we cannot comprehend the femtosecond timescales of subatomic particle dynamics, or the geological timescales of erosion, or the cosmic timescales of star and galaxy formation.

The lens through which we see the world is also shaped by our upbringing and culture. It is a very convincing illusion that the reality which we perceive is the truth, the full truth, and nothing but the truth. This illusion, that our individual perceived “reality” is the one true reality, is not compatible with the global communities in which we live, and leaves us vulnerable to political manipulation and polarization, distracting us from the crises we need to solve together.

“Layers of perception” bridges vastly different realities and scales of space and time. For a brief moment, the commonalities between radically different worlds are brought together, and shown in a unified vision. And in doing so, similar to “Learning to see”, the piece works on dual layers. It uses the natural limitations of our neurobiological perception and related biases, as a metaphor to reflect on the limitations of our higher level cognition, how we make meaning, and what we consider to be the truth, and our “reality”.

SOLD OUT

‘Learning to see: Gloomy Sunday’, 2017

Part - ‘Earth’

Price: 8 ETH

https://vimeo.com/260612034

original video divided into 4 chapters: Fire, Water, Air, Earth(Flower)
1ch HD Video

unique 1/1 video as NFT minted on artist's own smart contract on Ethereum

Exhibited at “Automat und Mensch” show, Zürich, Kate Vass Galerie, 2019

Description:

Learning to See is an ongoing collection of works that use state-of-the-art machine learning algorithms to reflect on ourselves and how we make sense of the world. The picture we see in our conscious mind is not a mirror image of the outside world, but is a reconstruction based on our expectations and prior beliefs. An artificial neural network looks out onto the world, and tries to make sense of what it is seeing. But it can only see through the filter of what it already knows. Just like us. Because we too, see things not as they are, but as we are.

In this context, the term seeing, refers to both the low level perceptual and phenomenological experience of vision, as well as the higher level cognitive act of making meaning, and constructing what we consider to be truth. Our self affirming cognitive biases and prejudices, define what we see, and how we interact with each other as a result, fuelling our inability to see the world from each others’ point of view, driving social and political polarization. The interesting question isn’t only “when you and I look at the same image, do we see the same colors and shapes”, but also “when you and I read the same article, do we see the same story and perspectives?”. Everything that we see, read, or hear, we try to make sense of by relating to our own past experiences, filtered by our prior beliefs and knowledge. In fact, even these sentences that I’m typing right now, I have no idea, what any of it means to you. It’s impossible for me to see the world through your eyes, think what you think, and feel what you feel, without having read everything that you’ve ever read, seen everything that you’ve ever seen, and lived everything that you’ve ever lived. Empathy and compassion are much harder than we might realize, and that makes them all the more valuable and essential.

SOLD OUT

‘Learning to see: Gloomy Sunday’, 2017

Part - ‘Fire’

Price: 8 ETH

https://vimeo.com/260612034

original video divided into 4 chapters: Fire, Water, Air, Earth(Flower)
1ch HD Video

unique 1/1 video as NFT minted on artist's own smart contract on Ethereum

Exhibited at “Automat und Mensch” show, Zürich, Kate Vass Galerie, 2019

Description:

Learning to See is an ongoing collection of works that use state-of-the-art machine learning algorithms to reflect on ourselves and how we make sense of the world. The picture we see in our conscious mind is not a mirror image of the outside world, but is a reconstruction based on our expectations and prior beliefs. An artificial neural network looks out onto the world, and tries to make sense of what it is seeing. But it can only see through the filter of what it already knows. Just like us. Because we too, see things not as they are, but as we are.

In this context, the term seeing, refers to both the low level perceptual and phenomenological experience of vision, as well as the higher level cognitive act of making meaning, and constructing what we consider to be truth. Our self affirming cognitive biases and prejudices, define what we see, and how we interact with each other as a result, fuelling our inability to see the world from each others’ point of view, driving social and political polarization. The interesting question isn’t only “when you and I look at the same image, do we see the same colors and shapes”, but also “when you and I read the same article, do we see the same story and perspectives?”. Everything that we see, read, or hear, we try to make sense of by relating to our own past experiences, filtered by our prior beliefs and knowledge. In fact, even these sentences that I’m typing right now, I have no idea, what any of it means to you. It’s impossible for me to see the world through your eyes, think what you think, and feel what you feel, without having read everything that you’ve ever read, seen everything that you’ve ever seen, and lived everything that you’ve ever lived. Empathy and compassion are much harder than we might realize, and that makes them all the more valuable and essential.

Reincarnation, 2009

1 channel HD 1920×1080 @ 60fps video
Duration: 9:26 seamless loop
Technique : custom software, computer vision, motion tracking, contemporary dance, fluid simulation Editions: 3 + 2AP

to inquire about availability please email us at info@katevassgalerie.com