State University of New York at Stony Brook
Department of Philosophy
Faculty/Graduate Student Research Colloquium
Gabrielle Jackson
Commentator
Brendan Conuel
“Seeing what is Not Seen”
"This talk attempts to weave together, into a unified thematic whole, topics from three distinct but
overlapping discourses: neuroscience, phenomenology, and architecture. Specifically, I will be attempting
to uncover the underground stream of thought that connects shape detection in early visual processing, the
phenomenological notion of presence of absence in bodily space, and ridgelines in roof design. I propose
that the embodied actor sees what is invisible to the detached thinker—the “shape skeleton” or primitive
structure of objects. It is this capacity that phenomenologists have written about when describing that
which is visually present-as-absent, and that architects have made explicit in algorithmic rooftop
design. My analysis is decidedly speculative. But it can be summed up with these words: the body sees
what the mind does not.”
Wednesday, February 24th, 2016
1:00-3:00 pm
Harriman Hall 218
Harriman Hall, Stony Brook, NY 11794-3750 – Telephone 631-632-7570 Fax 631-632-7522