Zoe: "On the 17th September 2010, I am going to tell my mum, I think she will disown me".
All images © Vince Hart
"How do we distinguish proper art from mere sensuous stimuli?" is Vince Hart´s first comment when introducing me to his photographic series Latent Inhibition.
"For an image to become memorable," Hart says "it needs to go through the cognitive process. Simply, it needs to pass from short-term memory to the long-term memory, the encoding process is where information is registered, stored and maintained for retrieval at a later time." In other words, for a photograph to become memorable there needs to be a degree of stimuli within a photograph. A stimulus is an action or influence that activates or accelerates a psychological or physiological activity.
Hart goes on to explain: "I will take this opportunity to explore the argument for scientifically approaching the interpretation of photographs. During practice I used key triggers to create stimuli.
My photographic approach invites the viewer to question the ambiguity and interact with the images. Each photograph acts as a clue to a longer narrative that the viewer responds to and co-creates.
Of importance to me is the aesthetic within my practice. Form, structure and dignity should be present within each photograph.
My photography is straight photography: no multiple montage or extensive retouching. I believe it is quintessential that the viewer’s experience of my work will be as close as possible to experiencing a painting. My intention is to demonstrate that cognitive science can influence the attentiveness we pay to art. If a photograph has been experienced with reinforced stimuli, there is a greater chance of remembering inconsequential artwork."
Vince Hart was born in 1964, in Kent, England. He recently completing his MA in photography (2010), at UCA Rochester England. Vince has worked commercially for a number of years although lately he has concentrated his attention on contemporary issues, and is working towards "having greater influence in the art arena." I strongly recommend you head over to his website and check out the rest of his Latent Inhibition series as well as some of his other projects such as the highly accomplished Return to Form project. This guy is good.
