In this essay I shall describe the research in the context
of it being a development of the Projective Test - that the written assessment
are but projections of the reader. I will argue that the photographs produced
in conjunction with their analytical reports, along with the remaking of the
final artefact (which often includes an integration of the text) becomes a new
narrative, that of a combination of the projections of the reader and their
re-introjection by the artist.
The starting point of this project was originally
acknowledged as an attempt to reveal an internal world of the artist. Through
production of self-portrait photographs, in combination with their
interpretation or analysis, a way of accessing, the revealing of and
documenting aspects of the artists unconscious pre-verbal past - also, how
these images and text based interpretations by trained psychotherapists, might
influence future productions of images and through the documentation of this process, create a
new narrative; in doing so revealing new knowledge.
However, through the collaborative nature of the research,
this process of analysis has become as much about what is projected on to the
images by their analysis, as much as achieving a level of understanding of the
internal world of the artist made from the reading of the photographs. The
project has not only begun to reveal aspects of an understanding of the
readers' internal world, but the combined phantasy of a how knowledge and
understanding reveals itself through a shared reality; a combination of the
viewer and the author and how these interpretations entwine themselves with the
artist's visual world.
For the reader, the frustrating experience of writing about
the photographs and not getting anything back[1] creates a paradox.
In this relationship we need to ask, what are the interpreters possibly writing about? Is it the photographs
and what they represent, the readers notion of the photographer and what he
might be saying, his unconscious communication; or is it perhaps simply their
fantasies - something the images emote from their past? It is possibly more
accurate to suggest that it is a documentation of all these things, emerging
from a position somewhere between the two. Winnicott used the term The
Potential Space[2] to describe this
process of intersubjectivity. How does their expression fits into this mêlée of affective
meaning? The interpreters are undoubtably writing about what I am trying to
say, there is a genuine attempt, on my part to give meaning and 'realness' of
expression, to communicate aspects
of my past through the images. However for the readers, not getting anything
back requires that they must surmise, risk, guess even, what the image
represents. They do this through the process of projection and introjection of
their fantasies within this Potential Space, using the image as a mirror.
Through the writing of the text, a description of this shared experience is
revealed. In this realm of intersubjectivity, all three participants, the
artist and both readers, share the same language of psychoanalytical theory and
practice, share a familiar journey of clinical practice in their training and
influences.[3] In psychodynamic
terms, the responses are familiar, accurately highlighting some elements of the
artists pathology. I will be looking at the concept of the shared creative
experience, the potential space, the intersubjectivity of shared experience, in
a future essay.
Am I transferring my feelings on to the reader and in turn
the reader is documenting through projection and introjection their desires,
needs and frustrations reflected back from the image. What is reflecting back,
in the psychodynamic realm, is an interchange between these two things. Through
creative play and this process of projection and introjection, important
aspects of the relationship are revealed.
For the purpose of this essay, I will discuss from the
position of the artworks being a specific type of projective test and in doing
so, a way of accessing aspects of the readers' projections. I will research
further the notion of intersubjectivity within this project and with this
knowledge, in conjunction with a review of the artist intent and documentation
of the remaking of pieces produce the final conclusions.
The projective test is a concept used in psychology. The
test uses visual modality of the patient, along with interpretive responses
from the psychologist, as a way of gaining insight into the psychopathology of
the patient. In it, the subject is asked to respond to images, which are described
as 'vague material', visual, non-specific, ambiguous images that would induce a
narrative from the patient, these responses can then be interpreted. These
tests are usually presented in a therapeutic environment, interpretations are
written up as the test progressed. Through their stories and from these
interpretations, along with other aspects of the subjects personality, patients
are assessed. These assessments reveal unconscious motivations and defences on
the part of the projector. Further understanding of these stories are made by
the reintroduction of the patient to their narratives by the interpreter.
 |
| The Rorschach Inkblot Test |
Probably the most famous of such tests is the Rorschach
Test, otherwise known as the 'Inkblot Test', where near symmetrical shapes,
produced by folding a sheet of paper containing wet ink, in half and presented
to the patient in sequence are used. Developed by the Swiss psychiatrist
Hermann Rorschach in 1921, the test developed into 10 specific inkblots. The
resulting shapes, printed on to card, are shown to the subject in order and
responses made by the patient noted verbatim. Describing the ambiguous nature
of the designs offers an insight into the subjects personality, characteristics
and emotional functioning. In the 60's the test was widely used, usually in a
therapeutic setting, often with the subject sitting with his/ her back to the
interpreter in a relaxed yet controlled atmosphere. Responses to the cards
where seen as a form of free association and these initial responses are
documented. There is an opportunity to re-engage by re-presenting the cards,
offering an opportunity to discuss what they originally saw and explain why.
This is known as the enquiry stage.
The results are used to gauge motivations, response
tendencies, cognitive operations, affectivity, personal and interpersonal
perceptions. The series of cards offering an opportunity to observe clustering
process, highlighting defence mechanisms and recurring affects. The external
stimuli in the enquiry stage will induce needs, base motives and conflicts.
 |
| The Thematic Apperception Test |
The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) was developed in the
30's by Henry A. Murray and Christiana D. Morgan at the Harvard University.
Less ambiguous in nature, situations, in the form of illustrations, could be
interpreted by the reader in relation to past experiences and current
motivations, this is seen as a more psychodynamic approach than the Inkblot
Test. The illustrations devised for this test derived from magazine photographs
of the day, it was noted that the decision to use illustrative versions of
photographs, as more simplified illustrations, provided more deviant stories,
that where more negative. Patients where able to associate with content that
comprised people and places, they would tell a story more easily and in doing so,
their defences would be lowered and needs and motivations would be highlighted.
Because the cards where provocative, yet ambiguous being asked to comment on
the outcome of the description of each individual card was an important way of
creating a unique narrative from the pictures. The main questions at the outset
of the test are stated as,
What has led up to
the event shown
What is happening
at the moment
What the characters
are feeling and thinking
What the outcome of
the story was
Again clinical understanding was made of the responses; of
the clients projections and although there are scoring systems in place, as
with the Inkblot, these are rarely used. Clinical interpretations would be made
of the narrative and these used in conjunction with other observations.
The TAT projection test, along with the Inkblot are still
used quite extensively in areas of dream interpretation and although not seen
as scientifically important provides and creates another extended use of
projective evaluation, developed and mainly carried out in a
therapeutic environment as a way of learning and getting qualitative data about
a patient in the form of
unconscious motivations that revolved around relationships in the world of the
patient; these ambiguous scenes initiating creative play and in doing so
accessing creative thoughts and emotions. As interpretations can clearly vary
from one examination to the next, the scoring of such tests have always been
highly subjective and have always been seen as problematic to extract
quantitive data from such encounters. Empirical viability and validity of TAT
and Inkblot test was not accepted as reliable in isolation, however used in
conjunction with other therapeutic contact this form of projective testing can offer
viable and reliable information. The interpretations would indicate meaning
based clinical judgement rather than an understanding from presumptions about
meaning; which would be the case of a more objective test.
These tests are popular in the field of psychology as a way
of beginning of an understanding of a client, although they show no supportive
evidence in a scientific realm, the lack of any scientific evidence is why
these reports offer a "projective paradox". Although difficult to quantify,
as with much qualities data, these tests are seen as having access to unconscious motivations
within the subject otherwise hidden from conscious awareness. Both the
Rorschach Inkblot and the Murray TAT projective tests would be therefore seen
as 'free responsive tests' as opposed to 'objective tests' (A multiple choice
questionnaire for instance). It is augured that the test has produced evidence
of clarity around dependency, studies on hostility and anxiety, also providing
a valuable resource in communication with schizophrenics and seen as a valuable
vehicle in the communication between client and therapist offering a route to
insightfulness, empathy and sensitivity to the therapeutic process.
Conclusion
The moving from indiscernible shapes, as with the Inkblot
Test, to illustrations that are less ambiguous with the TAT (that uses the
language of humanity that of the human form in context of his/her environment)
to this project, shows an extension of projective testing to a specific art led
process. The importance is the ambiguity of the stimuli that enables the data
to emerge and how this is integrated into the overall pathology of the artist
integrating with the interpretations.
 |
| Session X |
This project offers a new
projective technique, an extension of the Inkblot and TAT tests. By maintaining
a relatively narrow focus[4] on chose of
readers, of their theoretical understanding, their use of language and interpretations
made through the lens of psychoanalytical theory, a shared understanding of
latent content is made. When these images are presented for analysis, they are
in a relatively raw, unfinished form, using free association, the primary
process, as spontaneously as possible and by incorporating as many elements of
the primary processes as possible (see future essay). Having been assessed, I
will re-make the work for final presentation. This will represent a purely
secondary process of integration of the artwork and the text into the final
piece. This final piece will represent an accurate image of the artists intent,
in collaboration with the readers phantasies of my intent, a shared reality.
Spencer Rowell 2012
[1] I have noted the
concept of the blank screen and how this frustration can reveal itself in a
previous essay; the notion of the unconscious communication between a living,
feeling and present (although perhaps silent psychotherapist), in the presence
of a client, is very different form of encounter as an unresponsive blank
screen photograph. How in the case of the artwork not giving anything back,
projections of the interpreter are probably the main source of feedback.
[2] Winnicott
described this space of creative play between mother and child and indeed
client and analyst as the Potential Space. An area of shared intersubjectivity
where individuals can play together; in this shared space new knowledge and
understanding an emerge.
[3] The work is
described through a shared language of the British Independent School of thought
and language; for instance the references to theory are definable through a
shared interest in the interpretations and they present aspects of the artists
internal world, insight into the artists psychopathology.
[4] The self-portraits
are presented in a certain frame (the term used literally and in the
therapeutic sense), produced by an artist in training that parallels that of
the readers, the text is offered in the language of the British Independent
school of psychoanalytical theory, creating a focus to the research project and
in some way of enabling an understanding of the projections and how they are
integration of the readers input.
