In this presentation, to explore the intricate relationship between matter, mentality, form, and action in pictorial representation, I advocate for a functionalist approach that broadly views representation as a generative, dynamic process inherent in perception and cognition. It resonates with Neo-Kantian notions of representation as the functioning of consciousness in constituting a meaningful world (Lauschke 2012, Cassirer 1953, 1957, 1971). It also aligns with contemporary perspectives in the philosophy of mind, depicting the mind as an active constructor of the image of reality, as seen e.g. in Virtual World theories (Metzinger 2003, 2010; Westerhoff 2016). This approach dovetails with recent connectivist approaches in cognitive science, defining mental representation as a state of the cognitive system during its interaction with the world, and with the concept of perceptual objects and the self evolving as probabilistic representations produced by the brain through predictive coding (Friston 2010).
From these perspectives, I will explore case studies from 17th-century China, uncovering the principles of image formation characteristic to the Chinese pictorial paradigm. These cases reveal aesthetic theories and artistic practices rooted in Buddhist epistemology, paralleling some cultivation and contemplation practices. I will argue that the core of the Chinese pictorial paradigm lies in identifying the creative process with the organization of the environment into a meaningful world through sensorimotor and cognitive operations (Lukicheva 2020). According to this paradigm, the phenomenological world emerges as a result of these operations. Hence, the fundamental semantic elements of a representation primarily involve the operation of sensorimotor, perceptual, and cognitive mechanisms, with their reference to the objects of the phenomenal world being secondary.
Reconceptualizing image formation processes as analogous to the unfolding of the phenomenal world in perception and cognition implies that the image formation process actively embodies the structures of cognitive and perceptual experience within the materiality of a specific art medium. Consequently, an artwork unveils the 'operating principles and processes of the image as consciousness' (Fan 2022: 11), akin to capturing a snapshot of these operational processes and principles.
This perspective will enable to draw upon extensive research in cognitive science, exploring embodied cognition and the understanding of perception in terms of action, while investigating the regularities of action-effect pairing in cognitive, perceptual, and affective processes. (This interdisciplinary approach incorporates contributions from scholars like Machamer & Osbeck (2012), Noe & Thompson (eds.) (2008), Noe (2004), Varela, Thompson, and Rosch (1991), as well as scholars extending these approaches to visual studies such as Ferretti (2016), Freedberg (2011 and 2007), and Freedberg & Gallese (2007)).
In conclusion, I will provide an analysis of a Chinese landscape painting to demonstrate the representational dependencies between forms of phenomenal scenery, materiality of traces of the brushstroke and spaces of paper left empty, and sensorimotor, perceptual, and cognitive parameters at work in the image formation processes. This analysis serves as a concrete illustration of the applicability of the proposed approach of representation and the comprehensive perspective it offers on the intricate relationship between form, matter, mentality, and action in the image formation process.
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Fan, Victor (2022). Cinema Illuminating Reality: Media Philosophy through Buddhism. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
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Lukicheva, Polina (2020). "Within or Without the Limits of Seeing: On Representation and Creativity in the Aesthetics of 17th Century China." In Vision and Visuality in Buddhism and Beyond, edited by W. Behr, P. Lukicheva, and R. Suter. Sonderheft Asiatische Studien – Études Asiatiques, 1081–1101.
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Dr. Polina Lukicheva studied Sinology, Art History, and Philosophy in Moscow, Berlin, and Shanghai; she holds a PhD with the highest honours from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Zurich, and is currently conducting the postdoc research project “Apprehending the World Through Relational Structures”, funded by UZH Forschungskredit and the NOMIS Foundation. The project explores models of perception and representation, with the aim of illuminating universal properties of human cognition. Lukicheva’s research interests encompass comparative epistemology, and theories of concept and image and representation. She has worked on these topics within the research clusters Asia and Europe (University of Zurich) and Eikones: History and Theory Image (University of Basel). Her publications on representation and visuality include “Envisioning the World Within and Without the Limit” and the co-authored introduction in the co-edited volume Vision and Visuality in Buddhism and Beyond (DeGruyter, 2021). In her forthcoming work “The Category of Spatiality in Epistemology and Aesthetics in 17th-Century China” (in German, DeGruyter), she contributes valuable research materials, ideas, and theories on theory of image. Recently, she co-organized “Seeing and Understanding the World Differently” lecture series (UZH), where she curated various sessions, and moderated the discussion on “Representation and Non-Representation in Visual Arts” with Markus Klammer (eikones, University of Basel) and Victor Fan (Film and Media Philosophy, King’s College London). She is also a co-organizer of the Doctoral School “Systems of Representation in Asian Religious and Philosophical Traditions” to take place in October 2023 at Ghent University, where aspects of the concept of representation will be presented across fields of anthropology, semiotics of religion, philosophy of mind, cognitive science, and visual culture.
https://nomisfoundation.ch/people/polina-lukicheva/
I will analyze seventeenth-century Chinese landscape painting to demonstrate the representational dependencies among phenomenal landscape forms, the materiality of artistic media, and the sensorimotor, perceptual, and cognitive dynamics involved in image formation. This investigation echoes current cognitive science perspectives on mental representation as a dynamic state of cognitive system interacting with the world. It also parallels the idea of perceptual objects and the self as probabilistic representations evolving through anticipatory neural processes --a core aspect of theories of predictive processing. Thus, the investigation aligns with recent cognitive neuroscience theories focusing on brain strategies for constructing sensory and perceptual experiences.