There is only one true serious philosophical problem and that is suicide. – Albert Camus
Reflections on
The Self
Having an aversion to mainstream psychiatry, the century of the self and outdated models of psychology that has now led to distrust in the idea of Freudian concepts and its belief in an eternal conflict between our sexual nature and the Super-Ego, I am of the belief that by actively engaging with the unconscious psyche through various psychoanalytical techniques, one can engage communicate and develop within a framework a more fluid and teleological model of psychic functioning as developed practised in Jungian therapy.
What I found of interest in Martins Hosken’s lecture was the identification by Jung of the ‘the human shadow’ and how the withdrawal of the progression of the shadow creates ‘aggression’ (witnessed in WW1 veterans after WW1 and further identified by Bessel van der Kolk in his work with Vietnam veterans and wrote about in the Body Keep the Score). This aggression is what we generally term anger which creates an unhealthy balance in the individual opposite Jungs healthy individual model of finding meaning and fulfilment you’. To dive further back and into Jungian therapy, this aggression is rooted in the idea of ‘shame’ which is firmly rooted and ‘locked into the body’ So how does this relate to the beginnings of the advertising/ branded age and the idea of the Digital Self
If we consider the following idea proposed by Van der Kolk the parts of the brain in trauma survivors (PTSD, etc) that have evolved to monitor for danger remain overactivated and even the slightest sign of danger, real or misperceived, can trigger an acute stress response accompanied by intense unpleasant emotions and overwhelming sensations and relate it to what Bernays understood when he establishes modern advertising/ branding – the by-passing of the ego to sell directly to desire – then would could argue that giving the modern age (especially Covid) and the demands placed on the identification of the self through its relationship to the digital self that the traditional model of selling to our desires has now become an outdated model where a collective trauma now informs our conscious and subconscious decision making.
Perhaps this is what we have seen the relevance of more humanistic storytelling arise within brands, focused on the internalisation of their own message rather than the externalisation of a global message that no longer speaks to desire or ego. Perhaps through this messaging, we as individuals can then identify and build trust with brands, whereby we are no longer considering having to think if they are lying to us/ been authentic and instead focus on what is truth and what isn’t, a key response in building trust within the arenas both brand of trauma or as Janette Rainwater suggests with her theory of Self Therapy, that we as individuals are now responsible/self-identity assumes a narrative – which means that corporations no longer exert a Bernays level of control or narrative over the self.
And perhaps the above then poses a question for both our core values and identification of ourselves as both an individual and designer…
Inside/ Outside the work
How can Graphic Design help you communicate your core values at this moment on your course – an interesting question that at a conscious level can be answered succinctly though arguably at a sub-conscious/ body level requires a further dive beyond words/ values and even emotions.
Ronnie Lang noted in the ‘Divided Self’, that a sensibility to poetry, art, and philosophy was not only not incompatible with psychiatric practice but also a positive boon.
To explore this and arrive at an answer, I undertook the exercise of identifying 20 words that as a first response to the question allowed me to explore a conscious level of being:
Engaged / Relevant / Critical / Cultural / Abrasive / Disassociated / Modernist/ Exploratory / Colourful / Social / Reserved / Refined / Playful / Shadows / Thinker / Differentiated / Philosophical / Autonomous / Productive / Strategist
*Note the lack of the word ‘Creative’ in there, more to that point later.
Distilled down these words then become 5 key values:
Relevant / Critical / Exploratory / Philosophical / Autonomous
These words then became the foundation of an identification of the creative ‘Self’ or so I believed…
Engaging with this exercise I quickly found out that I rarely use the word ‘creative’ in describing myself or my practice, an interesting point to land on and one that led me to ask less 'Who Am I' and more to 'How am I' and 'What am I doing.’
This question became the conception of my visual expression.
To answer the question I then had to look beyond the initial key values and employ a creative strategy called Oblique Strategies which was first conceived by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt in 1975 as a series of creative exercises designed to resolve dilemmas as they occur in a working or creative situation. As is appropriate this strategy has transferred itself as a creative framework into my everyday life and employing it in this scenario would perhaps allow me an insight into my creative practice.
Relevant: To the point on purpose and execution. I believe in communicating directly with a clear vision and cultural relevancy.
Critical: I remain evaluative and analytical in my approach to practice with an interpretative and open mindset.
Exploratory: Without an experimental mindset I wouldn’t be able to explore, probe and engage across my practice.
Philosophical: By employing a philosophical route I am able to engage in logical thinking while remaining sufficiently detached and calm in my method of enquiry.
Autonomous: Without freedom and self-governance I would not be able to undertake the projects I’m engaged in, both commissioned and personal.
Process
My response to the question was to ideate the title 'Inside the Work, Outside the Work' the title, and rely on the Oblique Strategy cards to create an abstract response based on estorical beliefs which evidently then asks the question of 'Who am I'.
And is who I am comfortable with within the space I occupy between work and non-work. The ensuing statements contained within the piece (1–7) then pose a conundrum, to which part of the self do they apply and in looking at the statements critically, can I then define "Who am I' within the context of my design practice and everyday life and do those statements relate to my core values or do they need to…
What transpired was the final piece in itself touched upon the core values I had established which again brings in one of ‘Janette Rainwater’s ideas that the self-identity assumes a narrative.
A starting point for this exercise was to produce a graphic piece from what I would call my everyday practice and then pull an Oblique Strategy card out,
The card read:
'Make a sudden, destructive unpredictable action, incorporate' and this presented the new idea of jumping into the editing suite.
This created the opportunity to move into space creatively that I wouldn't normally occupy and out of my comfort zone. Inspired by Rosie and Tove, jump into editing a motion piece that would form the basis of my final approach.
Another starting point of the final piece was started by exploring simple typographic lockups around the oblique strategy married to an idea of fluidity and movement which Wes Trimble picked up as a reference to the connection between the mind and emotion, a key element in the identification and classification of the self. As the project developed, I looked at ways to create a more interesting graphic expression by playing with layers and opacity and introducing some of the techniques in colour separation techniques found at https://colorlibrary.ch, an ECAL initiative into print colour separation. Once the colour route had been established, I then explore the typographic routes, plating with hierarchy, type size, and space to create a sense of ‘questioning’. This questioning married to the visuals creates an abstracted idea of exploratory thought within cognitive and emotional structures.
Again inspired by Brain Eno and his recent works, I recorded the track playing through a speaker to give a more 'real' feel to the density of the sound and overlaid this recoding with the original track slightly on slightly different timestamps to create a unique sound that reinforces the duality of the self, conscious and unconscious movement.
Final outcome
The final piece though abstract in nature answers for me some of the key questions I asked at the start, “How am I’ and “What am I doing’ and whether these create a path in the identification of the Self and whether one can influence cognitive thinking through the art of self-observation and help and whether self-actualisation through the use of a standardised framework (e.g oblique strategies) can help create a connection between mind and emotion and if it can – whether this same level of e.g. authenticity and action could be applied to creative and brand strategies, – ‘, that we as individuals are now self-responsible/ and/or self-identity assumes a narrative – which means that we can control the narrative over the self once engaged in self-actualisation and that this may lead us to break a Bernays level of control that 20th-century brand and marketing techniques have employed against us.
The Wall
Feedback from on my piece:
‘Loving the images and music, I think you need the type just to stay up a little bit longer tho so you can take it in or go bold like disTORTION. In the context of self-representation it makes me think of the heart and brain working together with the senses… very deep and cool. – From Wes Trimble
Feedback to Wes on his Sculpture
’Nice idea, always love date Shella Na Gig figurative carvings, slightly abstract in their form but highly symbolic at the same time. – To Wes Trimble
Feedback to Wes on his Sculpture
It can be difficult to break out of a safe place, what I’ve told myself is that the opportunity exists within the context of the MA to break out and try approaches that may not toe ins with your professional practice. Fail harder, fail faster. – To Wes Trimble
Reflection
On a practical level, I was surprised that I had maintained video editing skills that I had developed in the past and that it was a quick enough learning curve to implement an idea in Premiere and produce a visually arresting and engaging piece of work. Where I feel I could have done with more exploration was creating an animated experience around the typographic approach but it also reinforced the idea that you can’t learn or nor should you learn everything and that a lack of skills can be compensated through working as part of a larger project team, something I adhere to in my everyday practice.
What also came out of the process, and something perhaps I’ve struggled with until Week 4 is the identification of a root for my MA undertaking. Find an area you're interested in (critical theory/ psychoanalysis/ education) and apply design practice to open them out in ways not considered before.
On the idea of the ‘Self’, reflection could fill a book, but the idea that in knowing ourselves comes work and that ultimately we need to realise that that work will be never-ending, and that we can only be authentic to ourselves by identifying and questioning the values we attach and surround ourselves which provides us with valuable insight, that no matter whether it be the self or your practice, that the embracing of new perspectives, values and possibilities will also lead to interesting places and results. Or we could just embrace Martin Hoskins's idea, ‘maybe it’s ok to be human’, but then, where’s the fun in that (/s)!