Lecture 1//Psychoanalysis

The Psyche
-Unconscious in everyday life
-Gender identity
-Understanding complexities of human subjectivity
-Development of psyche from birth

A way of categorising and understanding desire, motivation and dreams.

Sigmund Freud 

Sigmund Freud introduced psychoanalysis in the 1890's.  He treated hysteria patients using psychoanalysis by guiding them to discover and accept repressed thoughts and events. 

'Wish fulfillment'- Dream analysis habits and associations of 
young infants. 

Dynamic Unconscious
-Repress idea, stop feelings, prevents and protects our conscious selves.
-Unconscious is chaotic, without order and without language.
-Makes itself present through ticks, slips and symptoms.

Stages of Development 
-Misinterprestations, assumptions often made incorrectly
-Three stages; oral, anal and phallic. Attempt to make sense of biological and logical sense.

Psycho-sexual Identity 
Oedipus Complex- Sexual/love feelings towards mother and resentment of father. Jealousy, rivalry confusing 'to want' vs. 'to be wanted'. The development of masculine and feminine identities in relation to penis/phallus. 

Castration Complex- Boy fears castration while girl accepts that is has already happened. The phallus is seen as power. 

Penis envy- Relates to father figure presence/absence-negative feelings. Boy fears castration whereas girl feels she is missing something. 

A child most overcome issues to gain sexual identity. 

The Uncanny 
-'Unhomely'
-Unnatural yet familiar
-Something hidden which came to the open
-Boundary between fantasy and reality break down
-Apologies between the unconscious (psychology) and the uncanny (aesthetics).

Unconscious - The ID (Instant)
Conscious- The EGO (Personality)
Social Order- The SUPEREGO (Social and language)

Jacques Lacan 

1960's and 1970's claiming 'return to Freud'. 

Structural Language- Lacan said the development of the psyche is entwined within the structures of language. 

Mirror stage

-Childs recognition of itself in reflection.

-Rivalry, may recognise own image but it's still limited in movement and identity.

-Eruption of ego, sense of loss and alienation.

-Captation, child state of experience own image. 

Lancanian Unconscious 

-Structured LIKE a language.

-Unconscious is the discourse of the other.

-Details are encoded in the various ways as they slip into the unconsciousness. 

Metaphor/Metonymy

Desire- Possesses similar characteristics to metonymy  Desire for objects are displaced desire for what cannot be attained.....unconscious desire.

Lacanian Phallus

Phallus as a concept- not penis. Symbol of LACK. Males have potential lack, women actual lack. 

Orders of reality 

REAL- Cannot be symbolised.

           - Most basic, animal selves exist.

IMAGERY- Order exisits symbols and signification.

                  - Ego born and developed. 

SYMBOLIC- 'Order of the other'. 

                     - Exists outside of ourselves. 

Psychoanalysis and Art Criticism/Theory

-Subjectivity; human, motivations, desires, unconscious

-Model based theory/paradigm; model provide  tool for categorising or breaking down individuals and groups of art/design works. 

Edward Bernays 

-'Godfather of PR' (Freud's Nephew) 

-Applies knowledge of psycholanalysis, unconscious desire to advertising and PR campaigns. 

-Revolutionised advertising bu applying manipulation.

Case Study- 'Torches of freedom'

Max Ernst- Surrealist, collages 1930.

Victor Burgin- 'The Bridge', 1984.