Emergence of Perception

Emergence of Perception stages the moment at which dispersed marks begin to register as an animated form. Its contours are neither fully contained by the display case nor independent of it. They arise through alignment, light, and the movement of the viewer. The work treats perception as an active relation.

Seeing is not simply the reception of an already complete object. The image is composed in time as the body moves, and every shift in position alters its rhythm, density, and apparent momentum. For an extended philosophical analysis of the work, read Erin Manning’s “Of Force Fields and Rhythm Contours: David Spriggs’ Animate Sculptures” in Relationscapes: Movement, Art, Philosophy, published by MIT Press.

Movement with the image

Erin Manning describes this encounter as a movement with perception in the process of composing itself. The sculpture does not prescribe a single path or final image. It invites the viewer to sense rhythm, direction, and force across an environment that remains open to change.

From the principal viewpoint, fragments cohere into a dynamic body. From the side, its apparent continuity disperses into planes. The transition between those states is the work’s central subject: perception emerging as a shared event between image, space, and participant.