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See NYC Landscapes As Pointilist-Inspired Photo Paintings

Jay Friedenberg's cognitive science-influenced solo show "Digital Dreams" hits a sweet spot between digital photography and classical painting.

Downtown (2011), Images courtesy of the artist.

Jay Friedenberg makes gorgeous artworks from a scientific perspective. The artist, researcher, and professor is interested in empirical aesthetics, a field that revolves around how people perceive and understand beauty from a psychological, as well as biological, perspective. Does the golden ratio actually dictate how a viewer will respond to a certain shape, as many have believed for centuries? According to an article Friedenberg wrote last year, maybe not. His heavy interest in cognitive science and an outsider perspective inform his art practice, which involves transforming digital photographs of iconic cityscapes into some middle ground between painting and photography with an Impressionistic or mosaic-like style.

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For his first solo show, Digital Dreams, at 440 Gallery in Brooklyn (open through August 17th), his art reflects a perception process called “optical mixing” where the smaller shapes in his pointillist-influenced work are consumed by the brain as a full image. The canvases in Digital Dreams may strive to encourage viewers to actively consider the parts that make up the whole, and why we believe that the fragments are actually attractive. We wanted to know more about Friedenberg’s multidisciplinary background, and talked to him about approaching art from a scientific vantage, and how he makes work that may trick the eye at first glance.

Central Park Fall (2011)

The Creators Project: You have a really interesting background, working as both a vision scientist and psychologist. Can you tell us about your past work and research within academia and science? What do you currently teach at Manhattan College?

Jay Friedenberg: My research interests have recently shifted to a field that is called empirical aesthetics. It is the scientific study of what is considered beautiful and is an emerging area in the sciences. In 2013 I published an article showing that the golden ratio (1.618) does not predict perceived attractiveness of triangular forms. This ratio has received a lot of attention in the psychological literature and contrary to previous claims does not usually explain why people like geometric shapes.

Currently I am teaching biological psychology, learning and cognition, artificial intelligence and sensation and perception. The perception course in particular provides a lot of fundamental background for the visual arts. We examine the physiology underlying the visual system and how it is that we perceive depth, color, motion and form. In the near future I hope to teach a course on visual aesthetics and the psychology of beauty.

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For someone unfamiliar with your work, how would you describe the art you make and your style/aesthetic? 

I value precision and clarity in my work. I also favor "mosaic" type effects in which there are adjacent patches of color and shape that get integrated during perception. Some of this is reflected in my digital photo art where I simplify the image into these distinct smaller shapes. These patches get integrated during perception in a process called "optical mixing" where your brain combines them. Another instance of where this occurs is in pointillism. This is in contrast to blending or mixing where colors are combined directly on a canvas.

It's interesting that you make digital images of real locations in a style that recalls Impressionistic art — the visual and conceptual effect can be disorienting and arresting. How does this current body of work related to your past investigations of human vision in relation to art perception?

I love the New York City skyline. Its beautiful in a man-made way, reflecting the power of commerce and engineering. It has a linear and orderly type of beauty, of a sort different than that found in nature. This makes a good subject for digitally manipulated photography, which is technological in nature. This is why I choose these real locations, but I have also applied these effects to summer beach scenes, clouds and natural landscapes to similar effect.

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It’s hard to say exactly how my research work applies in this situation as we are using much simpler forms, mostly geometric shapes. However, I have also used illustration software to create geometric poster art composed of interlocking geometric forms. This work is more in the style of graphic design. I have published several books using these sorts of forms to create symmetry, band, wallpaper, and tile patterns (available here). I hope to show some of the poster work inspired by these designs at my next 440 Gallery exhibition.

Land of Liberty (2011)

Using an example from Digital Dreams, can you bring us through the creative process of how you make one of your photos from start to finish? What kind of technology/tools do you use to manipulate your photographs?

I start with a picture taken using my Nikon D90 camera. This basic shot is then cleaned up in Photoshop by adjusting the contrast, brightness, exposure, etc. To achieve more vivid colors I increase the saturation value. Then I apply a series of filters to introduce successive effects. For instance one set of filters will break the image up into smaller pieces, others will introduce glitter or blur. The final result is the cumulative effect of these filters superimposed on top of one another. There is a number of third party plugs-ins for [digital art tools] and several stand-alone software packages that allow for other sorts of image manipulations. My work is not the result of just pushing a single button but of a controlled sequential process that requires choices at each stage.

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Some traditionalists denounce the idea claiming that because it is created on a computer, it minimizes the creative and technical skill of the artist, but this is clearly not the case. First, one must understand all the basic techniques of traditional photography to obtain the starting image and then the particular skills needed to digitally manipulate the image. So it actually is more challenging than traditional photography.

Are there are any artists, impressionists or not, that influence your aesthetic?

My photographic and artistic style have many influences, but are best inspired by the impressionists who utilized optical mixing techniques and use of intense color. Examples of my favorite artists in this genre include Birger Sandzen, Armond Guillaumin, and Albert Lebourg. I also favor the work of the modern 20th century Japanese woodblock print artists like Kawase Hasui and Yoshida Hiroshi who were experts at laying down adjacent colored areas to produce interacting effects. The fauvists also hold some appeal for me in terms of their bold color use, in particular Maurice De Vlaminck, Andre Derain and Louis Valtat.

What other projects do you have in the near future? Will you continue to focus on both making art and writing books/scientific articles?

In addition to digital photo art and geometric pattern design I am also a landscape pastelist. Pastels are a wonderful medium, especially when applied to a sanded surface that catches and holds the pigment. I have participated in workshops with a number of leading pastelists and taken classes at The Pastel Society of America, which is located here in Gramercy Park. Some of my pastel work can be found on my website.

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Dusk Upon The Water (2010)

Orthographic (2011)

For more of Jay Friedenberg’s digital, pastel, and graphic works, take a look at his website. His exhibition runs at 404 Gallery (440 Sixth Avenue, Brooklyn, NY) until August 17th.

Related:

Why Are We So Obsessed With Editing Photos Beyond Reality?

A Look At Jacques Perconte’s Digital Impressionism

Römer + Römer’s Impressionistic Pixel Art Will Make Your Reality Spin