Problems of Pictorial Perception

The problem of pictorial representation is partly a philosophical, partly an empirical one. Specifically, how can X represent Y; how can X be perceived as something other than what it is? Several traditional pseudo-answers to this question are reviewed, as well as recent more sophisticated ones. An explanation in terms of perceptual invariants is supplemented with a phenomenological description of the attentional act required in both real-world and pictorial perception. It is proposed that rather than similar visual features of X and Y, it is parts of identical attentional acts during the perception of the features that constitute their relationship and that the traditional concept of representation in visual art is misleading. This idea is illustrated by considering an artist’s tasks as conceptualization and recording of perceptual experience.