Premium
Perceptual Anthropology: The Cultural Salience of Symmetry
Author(s) -
Washburn Dorothy
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
american anthropologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1548-1433
pISSN - 0002-7294
DOI - 10.1525/aa.1999.101.3.547
Subject(s) - problem of universals , salience (neuroscience) , perception , symmetry (geometry) , property (philosophy) , linguistics , cognitive science , epistemology , psychology , sociology , computer science , cognitive psychology , mathematics , philosophy , geometry
In this paper, I advance the position that knowledge about the universals of form perceived by the visual system is fundamental to a theory of how art communicates. I focus on how the perceptual system uses the universal property of symmetry to recognize and classify form. I propose that the symmetries that structure design parts in non‐representational geometric patterns metaphorically encode a culture's fundamental relationships about the world. This metaphorical use of the property of symmetry is illustrated by showing how bifold symmetries in ceramic design embody Puebloan concepts of life. [symmetry of pattern, perceptual universals, worldview in design structure, metaphorical readings]