| It is widely assumed that it is possible to render physical space accurately in landscape paintings. This type of rendering is often referred to as "realistic." However, a quick review of landscape paintings from the United States and China reveals that what each refers to as "realistic" renderings of space is quite different. Combining phenomenological and symbolic approaches, this paper explores the role that the cultural education of sense perception plays in how members of any given society learn to perceive space. In particular, it examines the rhetoric of artists education, and the standardized practices that are taught to art students in the United States, which help them to render space as mainstream U.S. culture assumes that it appears. Through this I show that how "realistic" space is rendered has deep cultural significance, which is masked by the assumption that it is simply an accurate representation of physical space. |
