Art and Psychoanalysis

Forgot to enter this at the time, these notes were taken from an interactive lecture with Graham on the 11th Feb.

Sigmund Freud:
Consolidates the notion of an unconscious that came to the fore in German romantic philosophy.
Jacques Lacan:
Using structuralism, consolidates the relationship between unconscious and language evident in Freud.

Freudian terms:
- Unconscious irrational drives (animal)
- Libido (desire) is a psychic energy motivating the drives.
- Polymorphous perversity (pre-oedipal)
- Repression (socialisation)
- Oedipus complex (socialisation)
- Part object (fetish object)
- The uncanny.
- Oral, anal, genital.
Related notions in art:
- Child mind.
- Savage mind.
- Primative/primal.
- The other.
- The body.
- Liberation of desire.
- Antirationalism.
- Expressionism.
- Surrealism.
- Dada.

Lacan. The gaze:
- Mirror stage.
- Anamorphosis (dysmorphia)
- Symbolic order (language, society, culture)
- The real (beyond what we can conceive)
- The imaginary (imagination)
- Lack (in language, in self, in desire)
- The other (that which is not self, that which is beyond our symbolic order)
- Petit object 'a' /object of desire.
- Unconscious is structures like a language (not animalistic), creates a bridge between primal and civilised.

Jean-Martin Charcot (1825-1893) - A French neurologist - very relevant to my studio practice.
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I found this lecture to be really helpful with my studio practice, as in level 4 I was really interested in the unconscious mind, however the work never stepped forward and sort of faded into the background. After realising that my work was about the decline of institutions, and also finding a way for the viewer to feel awkward, I have become really interested in the unconscious mind again. Within my work I purposely want to make the viewer feel like they are in an awkward situation, feeling lost/trapped and possibly maybe provoking thoughts of complacence. According to Freud's theory, most of the thoughts of the unconscious are unacceptable or unpleasant, such as: feelings of pain, anxiety or conflict. Also Freud said that the unconscious influences our behaviours and experiences, even though the person may not be aware.
After a chat with Michael Branthwaite a few weeks ago, we were discussing how everyone has a place which they don't like, which makes them feel uncomfortable. This is something I am interested in making work, within my studio practice most definitely, and Freud's theory of the unconscious mind being not pleasant fits in well with my work which I am producing at this moment in time.

I am not really sure at the moment why I want the viewer of my work to feel like they are trapped/lost or even awkward, but I guess this is something which I will be able to answer very soon, as I feel like my work is moving on massively.