Date of Award
Spring 5-31-2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
Department
Painting
First Advisor
Yasi Alipour
Second Advisor
Jackie Gendel
Abstract
This essay traces a personal philosophical and artistic journey from rigid belief in scientific determinism to an evolving embrace of uncertainty, subjectivity, and computational perception. Raised in an atheist, scientifically grounded household in China, the author initially adopted Newtonian determinism and Laplace’s thought experiment of a fully predictable universe as guiding principles. These beliefs informed early artistic practices rooted in Constructivism, geometry, and rule-based aesthetics. However, a failed attempt to fully optimize life through deterministic control led to physical and mental collapse, prompting deeper exploration into Cartesian dualism, quantum mechanics, and the limits of reason. Through Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle and the observer-dependent reality revealed by the double-slit experiment, the author reevaluates their worldview, finding resonance in Taoist fluidity and John Dewey’s pragmatism. The essay then expands into existentialism and the role of human perception in constructing reality, culminating in artworks that juxtapose structured forms with improvisational gestures. Further reflections on AI, particularly Latent Diffusion Models, reveal alternate, non-human modes of perception. Through projects like Cryptic Synthesis and Codex Temporalis, the author explores how machine vision reconfigures notions of authenticity, identity, and meaning, ultimately suggesting that alternative perspectives are necessary to probe the limits of reality.
Recommended Citation
Zhang, Xilong T., "The Limits of Knowing: Determinism, Uncertainty, and What’s Beyond the Human Gaze" (2025). Masters Theses. 1471.
https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/masterstheses/1471
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.