Perception and the loss of the sensuous : an exegesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts, Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand

Abstract

This exegesis documents a practice-led Master of Fine Art research project investigating how light, space, and embodied experience can be used to destabilise perception and cultivate empathy, connection, and collective awareness. Situated at the intersection of installation, scenography, and phenomenology, the research explores how experiences of wonder and illusion may shift audiences away from ocular-centric modes of knowing and towards a more sensuous, relational engagement with the world. Drawing on the philosophies of David Abram, Juhani Pallasmaa, and the practices of Es Devlin and Olafur Eliasson, the research critiques Western traditions of visual dominance and explores perception as an embodied, multi-sensory, and phenomenological destabilisation to invoke reciprocity. Concepts of magic, chaos theory, and the labyrinth provide structural and conceptual frameworks for understanding interconnectedness, multiplicity, and non-linear experience. Through a series of experimental installations, including ‘Suspension of Time’, ‘The Presence of Light’, ‘Life’s Labyrinth’, and ‘The Aleph’, this research examines how light can function as both material and mediator—concealing and revealing, destabilising expectation, and fostering moments of collective contemplation. Audience participation is central to the work, positioning viewers as co-producers of meaning within what Es Devlin describes as “temporal societies”: transient spaces of shared experience and transformation. Ultimately, this research argues that art and design possess a unique capacity to “amaze” rather than persuade, enabling shifts in perception that extend beyond intellectual understanding. By creating phenomenologically destabilising environments grounded in wonder and magic, the practice seeks to reveal the invisible networks that connect individuals to one another and to a more-than-human world.