Depth in Aesthetic Perception

Abstract

This paper reconceives of perceptual depth by integrating Sergei Eisenstein's theory of mise-en-cadre with graphic analyses using eye-tracking data. Contrary to the commonplace understanding of depth-as-distance, it is argued that techniques such as linear perspective simulate a quantitative understanding of depth, whereas depth in perception is fundamentally qualitative. Scanpath information was taken from three recordings, in which subjects viewed a variety of images. Rather than employing eye-tracking as a means to explain perceptual behaviors, it was used to provide an additional perspective into a fundamentally aesthetic problem. Depth is conceived as the collision of intra-image moments that inform a total, yet dynamic 'picture' through a subject's perception.