For my Final Major Project, at the end of my first year of arts university, I wanted to work around the idea of Dissociation following some experiences I had during the 'Here and Now' project I was working on prior.
(It's not posted on Steemit yet - to see some of the work included in the 'Here and Now' project, and some of my other project work, you can see photos captioned with the project titles on my Instagram page here)
Dissociation "usually describes an experience where you feel disconnected in some way from the world around you or yourself"
[1].
Dissociation is often a natural response to stress and can also be a symptom of a mental health disorder or a side effect of drugs, alcohol or medication. Some people may even choose to dissociate as a way of coping with stress, to calm down or focus, or as part of a religious / cultural act.
Most of the research into Dissociative disorders is based on the DSM system, and both the ICD and DSM view Dissociation differently but both are only part of the whole truth.
DSM: "chronic, long-term conditions that are developmental in nature – in other words, they develop over a period time in response to trauma and attachment difficulties as a child’s brain grows and matures" [2]
ICD: "acute (ie short-term), reactive, and transient responses to here-and-now stressors and traumatic experiences." [2]
Dissociation is a lot more common in day to day life than I had thought as even the act of daydreaming can be considered dissociating, but this wasn't something I wanted to focus on. I wanted to direct my focus on those negative and somewhat scary feelings I experienced from the previous project - I do end up deviating away from this idea though, particularly in the beginning as I try to understand what I had experienced.
(Approx 5.8in x 8.3in each, Charcoal)
I started off with some quick observational sketches on public transport (and at a friend's house); I feel like being on public transport makes it easy to dissociate given that it feels like an in-between place of sorts, neither here nor there, somewhere disconnected from reality. Similarly, I get the same disconnected feeling in the woods and in carparks at night time, the bathroom and cinemas etc.
(Approx 11.7in x 16.5in, Graphite, Watercolour Paints, Charcoal)
(Approx 11.7in x 16.5in, Graphite, Watercolour Paints, Charcoal)
(Approx 11.7in x 16.5in, Graphite, Watercolour Paints, Charcoal)
Each piece was drawing and painted quickly, and was sprayed down between each layer; I really like the texture created and the watered down / muffled details, the absence of detail reminiscent of the fuzziness of the world around me whilst I was dissociating. The use of abstract colours, and the lack of depth and perspective, has resulted in flat and more abstract pieces that hopefully communicate a disconnect.
The use of water is a continuous theme throughout this project and it's links to disconnect have really interested me, particularly alongside the reading of 'A Streetcar Named Desire' by Tennessee Williams. In the play, main character Blanche uses bathing (and the bathroom) as an escape and becomes completely disconnected from, and oblivious to, the world on the other side of the bathroom door.
[1] Foster, C. (2016). Understanding Dissociative Disorders. [pdf]. Mind. Available from: https://www.mind.org.uk/media/4778451/understanding-dissociative-disorders-2016.pdf [Accessed 20 February 2018]
[2] 31. Spring, R. (2013). DSM-5: What’s New In The Criteria For Dissociative Disorders? [Online] Available from: https://information.pods-online.org.uk/dsm-5-whats-new-in-the-criteria-for-dissociative-disorders/ [Accessed 24 March 2018]
Part 2 coming soon, i'm trying to break it all up a bit because there's a lot! 10 weeks worth of work to filter through and decide what to post, hopefully the following posts wont have as much text ... sorry about that.