Expedition Art Jan Veerwoert Summary

What we see in nature is what we are able to perceive and is dependent on our own mind and sensitivity to it. Nature as defined in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary is the physical world and everything in it that is not made by people. It is a mass extending over the entirety of the world. In the article Expedition Art, Jan Verwoert refers to nature as though it were based on ‘fantasies’. Nature is seen as a source of romanticism that can convey both a potentially disturbing and mediative site. Verwoert states that “Every form in nature, including the shapes of rock formations, corresponded to a system of archetypes. The best way to understand this system was to confront nature in its raw state”. In the book “The Politics of Sustainability:

She relates her findings and how they have impacted her own work as an Artist. Bornstein’s understanding of visual perception is “that one’s milieu provides sensory input, which the brain then processes and reacts to”. In this sense Bornstein refers to vision, perception as awareness of natural elements, both mental and physical. Perception as defined in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary is the way you think about or understand someone or something. In the article perception is talked about through the context of processing information. This is examined through how our senses use feedback from the body to the brain reinforcing our perception. “The brain relies on the fact that there are certain qualities to the world that are constant and unchanging, filtering the glut information and eliminating detail in favour of basing perception on memories of what it already knows to be

An intended meaning might already be set but it will most likely not be viewed in that way. When a viewer comes to perceive anything, they take into account their past experiences. Since everyone has been through different things, their interpretations will be different. This is the same process that applies to viewing art. The nature of art is created when the artist intends one thing but the viewer perceives the work differently. This changes the meaning and does not necessarily mean either person has to adjust their views. This idea corresponds closely with the way that Bornstein talks about her own work. She talks about her experiences with mirrors, vision, movement and the mind. All of these different ways of seeing now affects the way she makes art. Gathering more information about perception and memory has been a predominant method in which to understand these new ways of thinking and making. In “Landscape pattern perception and process” by Simon Bell, perception is analysed through responses to patterns in our landscape. “Whilst the perception of the abstract beauty of these universal patterns is real, we need to be aware that it is not sufficient to admire them solely because they exist” (12). Patterns are everywhere within nature, and it is by recognizing them that we can try to make sense of the world that we live in. It is the responsibility, therefore of the viewer to attempt to see through the