Perceiving

We perceive rhythm bodily, and at the same time we follow our perception in rhythmic movements. Perception is a process of several succeeding steps: the reception of information and the processing of information – whereby the information is interpreted, selected and organized. Perception is the cognitive processing and interpretation of sensory stimuli, a sense-making by "taking something to-be-true". By combining partial information, subjectively meaningful impressions are created.

We can distinguish between inner perception, such as body perception and feelings, and outer perception, which is directed towards the environment, fellow human beings, spaces or objects. At the same time, perception takes place through the body and cannot be separated from cognitive processes. We perceive the floor as a supporting surface by moving on it; we feel the support and resistance by directing our awareness to the relationship of gravity of our body to the floor. The even waves of the curtain or the geometric lines of the window frames find their way into our perception and sensation through the movement of our gaze. In this process, our perception is guided by different rhythms: do I move in a serpentine way because I feel the contact between my skin and my clothes, or is it the undulating curtain that connects my imagination to this movement?

In our perception we can follow different rhythms: following a wall with our gaze, following the drumming of our fingers on the floor, trying the contact of our skin on different surfaces and connecting the sounds of music with us and our surroundings.

Vanessa Budai