WOII: Week 1 - Phenomenology
Today's session explored phenomenology through shadows and time, focusing on how perception is shaped by lived experience. Using photography and drawing, I examined how light and shadow are not just visual elements, but also emotional and embodied experiences.
Phenomenology emphasizes how we experience the world through perception, highlighting subjective experience over objective truths. In design, this is critical, as it deepens engagement with how users interpret visual elements. Shadows, for example, carry emotional weight beyond their visual form, shaped by time and memory. In my photographic work, I noticed how shadows shift throughout the day, reflecting time's fluidity. This aligns with Merleau-Ponty’s idea of embodied perception, suggesting that our experience is always mediated by consciousness (Merleau-Ponty 213). Kandinsky’s theories on abstraction also show how visual elements transcend their physical form to evoke emotions (Kandinsky 89), a key understanding for designers.
The drawing exercise connected these ideas to design practice. By representing literal shadows, I revealed deeper meanings absence, identity, and the passage of time concepts designers can use to communicate beyond the surface. Paula Scher’s typography demonstrates how form and layout influence perception, much like shadows shape space (Scher 45). Giorgio de Chirico’s surrealist works use exaggerated shadows to create a dreamlike atmosphere, emphasizing the storytelling power of light and form (de Chirico 102). Phenomenology teaches that design is not just about aesthetics but also about the emotional and experiential responses it evokes.
Total word count: 253 Words
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Works Cited
de Chirico, Giorgio. The Enigma of Arrival and the Afternoon. Thames & Hudson, 1995.
Husserl, Edmund. The Phenomenology of Internal Time-Consciousness. Translated by James S. Churchill, Indiana University Press, 1964.
Kandinsky, Wassily. Point and Line to Plane. Translated by Howard Dearstyne and Hilla Rebay, Dover Publications, 1979.
Merleau-Ponty, Maurice. Phenomenology of Perception. Translated by Donald A. Landes, Routledge, 2013.
Scher, Paula. Make It Bigger. Princeton Architectural Press, 2005.
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Paula Scher – "Shakespeare in the Park" Poster Series
Giorgio de Chirico – "The Enigma of the Arrival and the Afternoon"
Kandinsky – "Composition VIII"