Tracking Frank Stella: An Empirical Evaluation of Art-Historical Issues in an Eye-Movement and Questionnaire Study

Abstract

An eye-tracking and questionnaire study was set up in collaboration with the Van Abbemuseum (Eindhoven, The Netherlands) to investigate the perception and appreciation of three Frank Stella paintings from the 60s (Tuxedo Park Junction and Effingham I from the collection of the museum and a hand-painted replica of Hiraqla Variation II). Effingham and Hiraqla were shown next to a printed copy without fluorescent colors, for a direct comparison between the two versions. The main purpose of the study was to assess whether the works were experienced according to Stella’s prescriptions as defined in his Modernist ‘logic’: all-overness, flatness, instantaneousness and self-referentiality. We found that the perception of Tuxedo resulted in a well-structured, coherent heatmap, while a more or less even distribution of fixations over the surface was found in the case of Effingham and Hiraqla (and their copies), which indicates that Stella’s target of all-overness was achieved better in the last two works. Although Stella claimed to have created “flat and frontal” paintings, depth was experienced, especially in Tuxedo and the Hiraqla replica. In the latter, this was mainly caused by the protruding fluorescent colors. Also, in this work more fixations were found in fluorescent-colored areas when corrected for area size. No such effect was found in the original Effingham painting. Most participants found only Effingham to be instantaneously capturable. In the case of Tuxedo, the specific material qualities, like alkyd and open canvas, were rarely recognized, which undermines Stella’s aim for self-referentiality. Participants noticed the fluorescent effect in the Hiraqla replica, but they did not mention other material qualities. A reverse effect was found for Effingham.

How Do We Move in Front of Art? How Does This Relate to Art Experience? Linking Movement, Eye Tracking, Emotion, and Evaluations in a Gallery-Like Setting

“…More fine-grained eye tracking data would also be useful in order to rule out of the possibility that the relationship between art experience and fixation locations might be due to visual artwork properties alone (e.g., by using image statistics of saliency or color as moderators in the analysis). All of which would provide a meaningful contribution to arguments for advantages of mobile eye-tracking for museum studies (De Winter & Wagemans, 2022; Linden & Wagemans, 2021).…”

“…First, we coupled this study with mobile eye tracking. This is itself an emerging line of research especially in ecologically-valid art engagements (e.g., De Winter & Wagemans, 2022; Heidenreich & Turano, 2011; Pelowski et al, 2018; Reitstätter et al, 2020; Santini et al, 2018; Walker, Bucker, Anderson, Schrei, & Theeuwes, 2017). Although, it is important to note that, due to the limitations inherent in the nature of our method and already extensive list of general factors already under exploration, we did not investigate fine-grained aspects of looking, for the present study this was a useful counterpoint for tracking movement, allowing us to assess where individuals actually looked while moving (e.g., see Linden & Wagemans, 2021 referenced above for similar usage).…”