In this reading, it focused on the life of Sigmund Freud and his career in neurophysiology and histology. There is a lot of discussion on neuropathy as well as other aspects of psychotherapy such as hypnosis and its various effects on the patients. Various methods were discussed like the pressure method which was used to bring back memories of repressed events for patients. Also, there was the free association method from which the patient could say whatever they wanted and the doctor interpreted. This book seemed to be focused on the practices that Freud was a part of during the 19th and 20th century and how he interpreted them.
My impression of the reading was that it was full of interesting stories of the beginning of psychotherapy but had little to do with art. I see the images as interesting portrayals of the events of his life and how they relate to the subject matter. Freud also points out problems in this field such as errors with therapy and how society works. If I was to guess, I’d say that this was attempt to make an internal sourcing piece based on Freud’s life and in that respect they succeeded. This week’s reading, I think, was an attempt to open our minds to another way of thinking in the hopes that it could make our art styles evolve.
In conclusion, the reading was an glimpse into the life of one of the world’s greatest minds, Sigmund Freud. In this book, they detail aspects of his life and how they effected what he did for a living and his interests as well. Though, to an artist, this seems to have little to do with art, it is interesting to read about a new method of processing what we could do to create future art. As an artist, one can never survive with using one method throughout their career, so they must learn to adopt new methods whether they work or not. In the end, this reading unlike the others seems to depend on your interpretation of the subject matter more than any other.
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Good job Jeff,
ReplyDeleteI also want to add that the way in which we conceive of memory, dream interpretation, desire and other parts of the psyche are still informed by Freudian thought. That means we all tend to base our concepts/beliefs on Freud's findings. Freud, therefore, has influenced the most basic ways of understanding ourselves. This has everything to do with art. The basic principles of the two drives within the individual (pleasure drive and death drive) can be seen as the source of many creative investigations, and a given in the conflict of the human. Look at the surrealists (to whom your work is directly related) - there is no surrealism without Freud.