Designing for Relational Complexity

This paper explores the role of interdisciplinary strategies in contemporary art practice at the intersection of cognitive science, art and virtual reality in the VR artwork Nature is an event that never stops. The artwork comprises six distinct virtual worlds and employs interactive colour-matching tasks in each world to investigate the interplay between sensation, expectation, and experience in colour perception. Drawing on theories of perception as a dynamic synthesis of sensory inputs and prior knowledge, the paper examines how the immersive environments of the VR experience influence participants’ colour choices. By linking colour to cultural transmission, lighting contexts, canonical colours, and personal identity, the artwork challenges conventional notions of colour as fixed and universal. The paper situates these findings within broader discussions on relational aesthetics, offering a model for interdisciplinary collaboration that engages sensory experience to foster introspection and shared responsibility, while emphasising perception as a deeply relational process shaped by cultural and material contexts.