Chapter 1: How we see. How we understand

We receive the image, extract information, and infer what it is based on previous experiences. 

When we see, we create conclusions about the world around us. 

Let's look at the image of the American flag. We’ve all see this before. 

How many stripes? How many stars? What color is on top? What color is on bottom? How many short stripes? How many columns of stars?

The American Pop artist, Jasper Johns Links to an external site. created a series of paintings about the flag of the United States. When asked why he chose the subject matter, he stated, “The flag is something is seen but not examined.”

However the reception of his piece Three Flags (1958) was negative in the fear-based Anti-Communist American culture lead by Senator Joseph McCarthy and fueled by the Cold War hostilities. Many of the public saw set of smaller flags as a statement of recession - a weaker America.

A national flag has intense symbolic meaning. People wave them in PROTEST and in CELEBRATION. It is an object with a lot of symbolic meaning and intense emotion behind it.

What if we stare and stare at it? Does it make it more or less real? Our eyes process information but is the information true? 

Stare at the image below for 15 seconds.... and then look at the black square.

Examining art is IMPORTANT. Our perception of images leaves imprints on our minds - physically (your eyes right now) and mentally.