Ignis Fatuus - Faces Everywhere

Perceptual Illusion

We see faces everywhere: on the wall, on clouds… Basically, when we see something that resembles two eyes and a mouth, we’ll think that we see a “face”. There is a part of brain called fusiform gyrus that is activated when the person observes faces. According to Pawan Sinha, professor of brain and cognitive sciences at MIT, when the pattern the person sees becomes more like faces, the left side of the brain is activated. But it is the right side of the brain that determines whether the person really sees a face of not. There was no fooling the right side of the brain, no matter how much the pattern resembles a face.

This phenomenon is generally defined as Pareidolia. Pareidolia also includes circumstances where the mind does not regard something as s face but rather just perceives a familiar pattern where none actually exists.

Mass effect

Media Art

Oleg Shuplyak is an Ukrainian surreal optical illusion painter. His works are drawn in such a way that common objects and scenery make up their distinctive faces in amalgamated form.

Another artist, Octavio Ocampo, also created many surreal painting that resemble faces.

Reflection

I always think that optical illusions are really cool and I know that it has something to do with our mind. After this project I know better how our eyes and our mind trick us to see certain things, like faces. Personally I believe this phenomenon is also related to another one that I often experience in life. When I buy something, e.g. a new bag, I always notice people on the street carrying the same bag as me more often than before. The explanation of this may be similar to why we see faces everywhere.

Also, since we know that faces, especially patterns that resemble faces draw attention, we could use that in mass media advertising. For example, a company can arrange its products to be like a face and catch more eyeballs.

Sources

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/13/health/13iht-faces.html?pagewanted=all

http://www.tuttartpitturasculturapoesiamusica.com/2012/04/oleg-shuplyak-1967-mighty-optical.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octavio_Ocampo