Public Event

James Elkins
Department of Art History, Theory, and Criticism, School of the Art Institute of Chicago

We hardly notice how we see the world. Our eyes do everything for us automatically and if our glasses fit right, we normally don't give our vision a second thought. This is an experimental lecture, intended to suggest some of the strange properties of the ways we see the world. The first half of the lecture gives some simple experiments that everyone can try, which demonstrate the limits of human vision. The second half is a tour through part of the animal world, showing how some animals' eyes work. The idea is to help us think about our own habits of seeing, and the particular limits of human vision -- to de-naturalize seeing, so our eyes can become the problematic organs they always have been.

Additional support from the Program in Art History and the School of Art + Design.

- This icon represents that streaming video is available for this lecture. Real Player is required

- This icon represents that streaming audio is available for this lecture. Real Player is required.

- This icon represents audio that is available to download for this lecture in mp3 format.