Research pointed me towards the hypothesis that people are eager to understand everything and give it meaning or purpose; this creates an obsessive habit. The obsession draws us towards what is different because it encourages a desperate need to explain the unfamiliar. How we perceive our surroundings relies on what we understand of what surrounds us. Perception is a common word that few people take the time to contemplate. Oxford’s dictionary defines perception as “the state of being or process of becoming aware of something through the senses.” The emphasis is on the part of “becoming aware of something”. When you become aware of something, it implies that “something” already exists, it is simply not seen or noticed, for whatever reason.

    Viktor Shklovsky, a Russian formalist, discusses the general laws of perception in his article Art, as Technique. He argues that “as perception becomes habitual, it becomes automatic. Thus, for example, all of our habits retreat into the area of the unconsciously automatic […]” (2). In order to disrupt subconscious, automatized behavior, artists and designers should focus to challenge how people perceive their work in order to stimulate the senses and heighten how the public experience it. For Shklovsky, the purpose of art is to create perception by overcoming automatized behavior. Art disrupts automatization through the presentation of visuals that are new to the eye and promotes the absorption of such with more inquisitiveness.

   An artist whose work focuses on the enhancement of the viewer’s experience of the ordinary is Olafur Eliasson. His definition of perception is distinctive; he describes perception as “how we choose to use our eyes” (Abstract: The Art of Design, “Olafur Eliasson: The Design of Art” 27:45). This definition puts emphasis on the individual. Everyone is in control and entitled to their own reality. That is the beauty of perception, it is not normalized. Eliasson discovered that if you light an enclosed space solely with monochromatic lighting, the rest of the colors in the space appear in a gray scale. He realized that by doing so, people’s sensation of color and detail is heightened through a reduction of the spectrum. Through the removal of color, a space becomes a place of hyper focus to all other elements that comprise it. The lighting sharpens the viewer’s vision and heightens their sensitivity to contrast. The exhibition of this thesis focused on fabricated guidance that aimed to lead the viewers to experience space and objects differently than they may have been accustomed to.

   After studying Eliasson’s work I shifted focus to a different disciplline: cooking. Specifically the owner and chef at Alinea, an avantgarde restaurant in Chicago, Grant Achatz. He is in a constant effort to take new approaches in how he expresses and presents food by being intriguingly experimental and questioning everything. Achatz is driven by creativity and continually experiments with ideas others believe to be impossible or risky. To be innovative requires a certain degree of risk; nothing innovative has ever been achieved by playing it safe. Achatz innovative approach to the eating experience inspired this thesis to focus on all the elements involved with presenting a furniture collection. When the focus is expanded, the potential of the design is elevated and creates a stronger impact on those who experience them; a different approach will lead to new results.

    Perception deals with the importance of creating a sense of doubt causing the user to question their perceived reality of the space. This compels the viewers to see, not merely look. By seeing, the viewers immerse themselves into the experience, perceive the objects and define what they seem to be, each in their own reality.