In phenomenology which is the experience of making and building materials and their sensory properties, Francis Bacon (artist), Christopher Tilley (anthropologist and archaeologist) and Tim Ingold (anthropologist) all believe in the importance of the physical, sensory experience of the material world in the context of/versus that of theory.
In addition to this, tacit knowledge reflects the way in which we connect to objects in a sensory way and understand them. It is know-how beyond words, an intrinsic sense of things.
Pallasmaa states, “Touch is the unconscious of vision and this hidden tactile experience determines the sensuous qualities of the perceived object.”
During my Alevel studies in Art and Design I became slightly obsessed with portraying a realistic surface and texture of the object I was studying in painting. Below are two paintings where I was doing this with the aid of grit, sand, hay, wood chippings etc. I also used knives, forks spoons and sticks to paint with to achieve different textures. For example, during the process of painting the green row boat below, I used knives and forks to create the same texture found in the wood. My final piece was more textural than these pieces but I hope you can get an idea of what I was trying to convey.
