Published January 20, 2026 | Version version 9
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Intersentient States: A Foundational Note v9

Description

Intersentient States introduces a practice-led concept in artistic research concerned with conditions of heightened perceptual relation between artwork, maker, and beholder. Developed through sustained work across experimental science and ceramics, the note proposes that certain artefacts can be composed to condition attention, sustaining moments in which perception appears distributed across the encounter rather than located in the object alone. Without attributing consciousness or agency to matter, the concept offers language for perceptual conditions long encountered in art but rarely articulated without anthropomorphism or metaphor. Situated in dialogue with phenomenological and relational approaches to art, the note reflects on making as a process through which form, material, and attention are held in dynamic relation. Published as an open-access foundational text, it registers authorship and establishes conceptual priority for the term Intersentient States, with further visual and textual development to follow.

Abstract (English)

Intersentient States proposes a practice-led concept describing moments of heightened perceptual relation between artwork, maker, and beholder. Drawing on experience across experimental science and ceramics, David Barrow describes how certain forms can be composed to condition attention, allowing perception to be experienced as distributed across the encounter rather than located in the object alone. This open-access note establishes authorship and context for the concept of intersentience as a language for such perceptual conditions.

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Dates

Other
2026-01-20
Research Note