Formation
2020

Video

Loop

4K Monitor

According to mathematician René Thom’s catastrophe theory, a nonlinear system, such as our perceptual system, exhibits various bifurcations and abrupt shifts with high magnitude by a slight change of parameters. By providing a subtle visual stimulus, the work Formation probes the nonlinearity of our perceptual processes and the multi-stable characteristics of phenomena caused by such nonlinearity. On a monitor screen, a low contrast pattern with minute movements is presented almost below the sensitivity threshold of our central vision. Yet, the faint pattern can be detected by peripheral vision with its higher contrast sensitivity. When spectators notice a pattern at the edge of their field of vision and try to focus on it, the pattern will dissolve into the white background. Formation puts the spectators in a situation where their techniques of observation need to be reconfigured in order to adapt to a new environment.