Modern society causes many psychological problems such as dehumanization and a sense of alienation although it brings affluence of material and information under the name of the information-oriented society. It is difficult for human beings, as a memb...
Modern society causes many psychological problems such as dehumanization and a sense of alienation although it brings affluence of material and information under the name of the information-oriented society. It is difficult for human beings, as a member of a society, to confront themselves following its rules. The less people don’t find the value of their existence in their society the more they not only feel alone and fear but want to look for themselves. This desire results in the dissociation of consciousness and shows two different personalities of a person, inside and outside of himself or herself, like two sides of a coin.
The purpose of this study is not only to research and analyze characteristics of ego in unconscious and the theories of ego’s double sides but to show them in arts by organic form. Unconscious state can be creative conscious of mind, naturally and voluntarily made in the depth of mental part without any connection with free will and capability. The double sides of ego in unconscious and organic form express the inside of the researcher and are the basic background of all the works.
Self-conscious by experiences and feelings has been based on expression of artists. According to Sigmund Freud, process of creating arts is started by instinct but controlled and formed by overall reactions of ego.
Carl Gustav Jung separates human instinct into internal and external characters. These two different qualities are composed of one human mind. That is, external quality means conscious ego while internal quality does unconscious ego. These contrasting characters establish the foundation of conscious harmonizing and interacting with each other. Most mental activities are done in unconscious state and they cannot be easily approached except either fragmentary or metaphorical way. Therefore, artists should intimately connect their past instincts in the unconscious to present and when they create their works. This process is possible because time doesn’t exist in unconscious state.
Double ego is one of the motives that people can often encounter in the western culture. The double ego motive from dualism, a basis of the western culture, has been an important medium of art that shows dissociation and identification of ego since the 19th century.
Edmund Husserl interprets ego as another ego known as innate ego. This ego means an other as another ego based on innate ego. Lacan’s concept of ego is consequence that is formed not by birth but through the process of dissociation. Lacan’s ego is an image of transformation which happens in an identity due to dissociation that the identity misunderstands that the ego has double sides. Lacan explains that people realize themselves through others’ point of view suggesting the concept of others’ desire (or others’ view). Ego starts being suspicious and dissociating at some point as figuring out what it sees in a mirror is just an image. Lacan understands this ego in a relationship with an image.
Organic image and form provide a sense of unity, one unified ego, by substituting the ego in this thesis. It’s a result of becoming an other. Therefore, by Lacan, all works mean that ego dissociated is the effect of the image and imaginary action and they imply double identity.
Expressing ego in unconscious with using organic form is because the form and the implicit meaning of nature are similar to human’s life. It’s also because there are two changing powers, naturally appearing and disappearing, in the deep inside of nature. Organic lives of nature have orderly form and structure that they can control and the forms that each organism shows imply variety. Therefore, organic form as a symbol understands ego is an organic shape of nature that can regulate by itself and it does not only express but reveal inside of this researcher at the same time.
Methodologically, double sides of ego are shown by lines of organic and geometric forms in this thesis. Unconscious ego is displayed by pictorial drawing and free expression while conscious ego is presented by limited and geometric lines. The reason why the researcher uses contrasting texture of fibers is to show the different meanings of conscious and unconscious ego. It is new interpretation on ego to use cubes wound threads with the expression of organic form.
Repetition of regular unit makes the endless circulation that a unit integrates with a whole and the whole returns to the unit. Repeating patterns can also provide optical effects that make viewers feel unity and infinity. The image of organic form repeats and becomes symmetry with piling up cubes as well. Irregular changes and various embroidery techniques are given to all the works in order to look lively and rhythmic. Therefore, the double sides that the researcher wants to express are shown by not only the meaning but optical effects through contrasting elements such as black and white, rough and smooth texture.
The ego that has double sides between conscious and unconscious develops the ego that wants to advance and keep balance through the process of conflict and repetition in this thesis. Two contrasting beings are usually considered as either ‘a conflicting and colliding relationship’ or ‘a denying and offending relationship.’ However, they are not in a conflicting relationship but in a Psychic Complemention relationship that they make up for the shortcomings of each other. They become ‘one perfect form’ by unifying beyond confrontation. Therefore, this thesis does not only suggest the process of connecting the ego of double sides with organic form but try to create formative embroidery that has new meaning of fiber-centered through the creative expression of the works.