POZNATOTO
THE FAMILIAR
Read
(Method & Research Notes)
Participate
(Pilot Study)
Practice
(Printable Collections)
About
(What is The Familiar?)
Current status:Research Notes: 6
Participant Practices: 19
Personal Practices: 25
Experiments: ongoing
Cards developed: 36Independent ResearchNo institutional affiliation.
This project is developed independently through public experiments and open documentation.
Method
The Familiar methodology is currently being developed through repeated practice, participant sessions, field observations and ongoing research.Its core process remains intentionally simple:Create → Pause → Observe → Recognize → Continue → Develop → ReflectThe same core structure can be adapted to different ages and contexts through changes in language, facilitation and the level of reflection.The methodology remains exploratory and may continue to change as new observations emerge.
Research
What is The Familiar?The Familiar is an independent research project exploring how recognition changes perception.The project investigates what happens when ambiguous visual material gradually becomes familiar. Can introducing recognizable structure alter not only what we see, but also how we emotionally experience the same image?Rather than beginning with established theories, the project develops through experiments, field observations, and open documentation.CURRENT FOCUS• Recognition and attention in ambiguous visual material
• First recognition and subsequent interpretation
• Perceptual availability vs. conscious recognition
• The role of wording, context and task familiarity
• Changes in perceived state during practice
• Metaphorical associative cards as research toolsResearch NotesThe development of the project is documented publicly through ongoing Research Notes.Each note records observations, questions, experiments, and theoretical developments as the project evolves.Read the Research Notes →
ParticipateThe project is continuously collecting data through public perception studies.Your participation helps shape future experiments and publications.Take part in the current study →
RESEARCH UPDATESResearch Note #006 — What We Know So Far — and What We Still Don'tThe latest research update brings together observations from personal practices, participant sessions and a recent public perception survey.The project has moved beyond the initial question of “What do people see?” and is now examining what happens to perception after something has already been recognized.Read Research Note #006 → in Medium
The project periodically conducts exploratory perception studies and participant practices.
Participation helps inform future experiments and methodological development.
Participation is voluntary. Studies are exploratory and are not intended as diagnostic or psychological assessments.
Practice
Explore The FamiliarThe printable card collections are practical tools developed within The Familiar research project.Each card begins as an abstract hand-drawn sketch and gradually evolves into an image containing multiple recognizable forms. Rather than offering fixed meanings, the cards encourage observation, recognition, and reflection.Every person may discover different shapes, follow different visual paths, and build different associations.The practice is not about finding the "correct" interpretation.It is about observing how recognition itself changes perception.Current CollectionThe first edition includes:• Set I – 12 metaphorical associative cards• Set II – 12 metaphorical associative cards• Set III – 12 metaphorical associative cards• Complete Collection – 36 cards, Companion Book, and a printable storage boxAll collections are available as high-resolution printable PDF files.From Sketch to PerceptionEvery card starts with a simple hand-drawn sketch.No object is planned in advance.Recognizable forms gradually emerge through observation, refinement, and visual exploration while preserving the original ambiguity of the drawing.The sketches shown below are part of that creative process.Available on EtsyThe complete printable collections can be downloaded through the official Etsy shop.View the collections →
Every finished card once looked like this. Recognition was discovered—not drawn.
What is The Familiar?
The Familiar is an independent research project created by artist and researcher Dilyana Teneva.Rather than assuming a fixed sequence of recognition, the project explores how attention, prior experience, context and emerging recognition may interact during the process.
