06 Aug Noema

Noema touches upon Gestalt Psychology.

The artwork combines a woman’s profile with a bird’s (an Egret). Upon first perceiving the image, it is taken as a whole; beautiful, ambiguous, and strangely poetic. Then, as we investigate, we intellectualize the parts to see how they relate to the whole. Here, our mental attitudes and processes change, as do the mental objects that arise – ‘Noema’ is a technical term in phenomenology referring to the content or object of thought.

Another example is music. When we hear a song, we generally listen to the melody and get a feeling – the ‘Noema’ of the song. Afterwards, we can examine the notes that made the melody and have a different experience, which is also Noema, just differentiated by our approach to the experience.

Noema represents the action of art itself; to observe and capture mental objects. Much like fishing, what you mean to catch is tied to what you cast outwards.