Picasso’s encounter with the masks could have been a revelation, a divine communication of truth from the shades of long-past African ancestors. But the moldy-smelling room suggests otherwise.
The space was probably dim, with just enough light to see the masks, but not enough sunlight to keep it dry. In this setting, the insight Picasso gained likely came from the shifting shadows as he moved around.
Seeing Double The Science Behind Gestalt Images That Change Before Your Eyes Pdf
As a result of these ever-changing conditions, in which shadows emerge and then disappear, or seem to be fleeting, multistable perception became possible. The ambiguity created by the foreground-background possibilities provided a perceptual experience in which alternative interpretations alternated.
Picasso’s Aha moment illustrates the Achilles heel of cultural hegemony. The moment led to a shift in his worldview and challenged the usual cultural dominance.
He moved from relying on past experience to solve problems, known as Reproductive thinking, to Productive thinking, which means finding solutions through sudden insight. This shift allowed him to think beyond the limits set by cultural hegemony, to think outside the box.
The sculpture created by Gabo and his brother suggested an element that would later be explored in photography: the fleeting shadow.
