The pattern you see may or may not be your own.

The pattern you see may or may not be your own.

Can people see patterns that don’t exactly exist? Like I posted previously, in some of my cellular automata pieces, the complexity reveals no pattern to me, even though I know there is an underlying set of rules producing the shapes. I can’t tell the difference between those pieces product by the rules and ones produced utilizing randomness, or randomness as defined by computer processes which isn’t “pure” randomness, but I can’t tell the difference there, either.

But cognitively, the brain is on a constant look out for patterns, It’s how we humans make sense of the world around us. However, there is a phenomenon called illusory pattern perception in which the brain creates its own pattern even if there is no pattern. It seeks patterns that aren’t there, a bit opposite of what my brain is doing when I look at a cellular automata and know a pattern exists, but I cannot perceive it.

This illusory pattern perception has been linked to belief in conspiracy theories. People who saw patterns in random coin tosses and chaotic abstract paintings were more likely to believe in conspiratorial and supernatural theories. 

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/conspiracy-theorists-have-a-fundamental-cognitive-problem

And guess what helps to circumvent this illusory pattern perception? Critical thinking. To quote the article above, “The brain may try to make false connections, but that doesn’t mean you have to believe it.”

So do those patterns you see in my abstracts exist or not? I just used a combination of randomness and electronic rolling of the dice to make them. 

But that’s the cool thing about abstract art. What you see is up to you. And it’s “only” art. 

Please take a gander at my abstract collection.