Artistic Portraits of Strange-Face Illusions Produced through Eye-to-Eye Gazing in Dyads or Mirror-Gazing

Giovanni B Caputo,Giancarlo Lepore

doi:10.1162/leon_a_01824

Abstract

Abstract Strange-face illusions are apparitional perceptions of deformed faces, unknown people and monstrous beings produced by prolonged staring at one's own face in a mirror or when staring eye to eye at another person in a dyad, at low-level room illumination. In the authors’ experiment, portrait artists drew illusions they perceived during a 10-minute eye-to-eye gazing session while paired in dyads with naive participants. Dissociation was measured through standard self-report questionnaires. Results showed that portraits became more abstract and less figurative as the artists experienced higher levels of nonpathological dissociation. Statistically, a significant correlation was found between art-abstraction ratings and dissociation scores by judges and portrait artists, respectively. Findings are discussed in relationship to portraits à la manière de Scipione and Francis Bacon.

Highlights

Strange-face illusions are apparitional perceptions of deformed faces, unknown people and monstrous beings produced by prolonged staring at one’s own face in a mirror or when staring eye to eye at another person in a dyad, at low-level room illumination
In connection to face processing, experimen tal psychologists have found that, at low-level illumination, mirror-gazing at one’s own reflected face [2] or eye-to-eye gazing within a dyad of individuals [3] produced perceptions of facial deformations and apparitions of unknown faces— the so-called strange-face illusion—that look like faces portrayed by Scipione and Bacon
The nonpathological dissociation produced by mirror-gazing has a short-term effect that is completely dissipated within 15 minutes of the end of the session [6]

Summary

Introduction

Strange-face illusions are apparitional perceptions of deformed faces, unknown people and monstrous beings produced by prolonged staring at one’s own face in a mirror or when staring eye to eye at another person in a dyad, at low-level room illumination. In connection to face processing, experimen tal psychologists have found that, at low-level illumination, mirror-gazing at one’s own reflected face [2] or eye-to-eye gazing within a dyad of individuals [3] produced perceptions of facial deformations and apparitions of unknown faces— the so-called strange-face illusion—that look like faces portrayed by Scipione and Bacon.

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Conclusion