Think Tank Thursday

The Gestalt theory of vision principle of completion.

The image above has four examples of completion at work. Our brain fills in the negative space created by objects in close proximity to one another to create shapes or objects that should logically be there.

To compensate for the overwhelming amount of stimulus and data our brains have to process, the mind will guess ahead as to what something should be based on previous examples.

Example a) looked like a white triangle even though the only objects in the area are three pac man things. B) makes an S; c) makes a 3D looking star or spike ball; and d) makes the Loch Ness Monster (or some variation of a snake like thing...).

Our eyes not only do this with drawings on paper, we also see shapes in the clouds, animals in wood patterns, Jesi (plural for Jesus) in pancake syrup, etc. Our observation and pattern detecting abilities are amazing when we aren't even trying. When we are actively looking for information its mind blowing what we can create in our grey matter.

Not everyone may see the same thing at first, but the power of suggestion, combined with the social need to not be the only oddball who doesn't see the pancake savior (our those Damn hidden image posters! How many people lied about actually seeing those? I know I did!) makes it likely that over time everyone will be seeing the same thing.

Theatrically this means we can create shapes and moods with our bodies. I am not talking about wallkng around awkwardly trying to be modern; instead we can use body positioning and relationships to suggest tension, relationship, or violence itself. An easy and often used example is when lovers kiss and the negative space of their bodies makes a heart shape.

Put two enemies locked in combat and you can make a hate shape!

The outcome is subtle and sometimes difficult to work into the choreography or scene. The biggest thing in our corner though, is that the audience is working hard to see what we are trying to show them and their brains don't care if information comes subconsciously or directly as long as there is something to process.

Greg