Assessment 2| Artist Statement - Desire & it’s Anticipatory Joy
*A video of the speculative performance will be uploaded after the class demonstration*Â
The feeling of desire is the root for other potential sensations. It is the first phase we experience before we begin the chase towards our goal. From the pursuit, we then experience a sense of anticipation that can be intertwined with impending success or unexpected failure. Thus resulting with immense satisfaction or devastation.
We were born from desire. Desires constantly arise in us and without it we would have no reason to function. The inability to desire often results in chronic boredom and depression as our lives lose direction and come to a halt. We cannot exist without it yet we are also never conscious of our desires unless they are very intense or come into conflict with other desires. Even the desire to stop desiring is in itself a desire. Desires are multifaceted.
Extending from my first assessment, I observed deeper into the psychology behind the notions of anticipatory joy. The sensation of anticipation builds the potential satisfaction that we may experience. Anticipation can be also associated with an expectation or prediction. In this major I will explore the specific relationships between an anticipation, prediction and expectation and how it contributes to the ultimate emotion of desire. With this assessment, I aspired to do something demonstrative to evoke these specific feelings from the audience. Although these notions are very closely similar, they are demonstrated succinctly through a speculative performance and interactive game called The Shell Game.
In my experiments, I have explored games and activities that stimulate a sense of anticipation. One of which includes the Concentration Game; a card game in which all of the cards are laid face down on a surface and two cards are flipped face up over each turn. The aim is to turn over pairs of matching cards to accumulate the most cards. This game employs strong concentration to memorise the location of a card to seek its pair. I observed and experienced that the pinnacle of excitement derives from a player’s anticipation for guaranteed success. This is experienced when a player discovers its opposition turn over a card that matches one that they remember seeing in another section – hence finding the pair. So when it becomes their turn, they take the advantage to turn over the matching pair. The anticipation is experienced during this action of turning over two cards that are known to be the same. The desire to obtain this success is heightened by the preceding anticipatory joy. This experiment, however, simple to execute, demonstrates a clear understanding and experience of the anticipatory joy.
Similarly, with the Shell Game, it again stimulates this experience of not only anticipation but also specifically prediction and expectation. The Shell Game introduces three or more identical cups that are faced down on a surface of which a small ball is concealed in one cup, and the operator, in plain sight, then shuffles all three to confuse the observer. The aim is to correctly select the correct cup, which holds the ball. When the ball is placed underneath a cup, the observer usually tries to keep their focus on the movement and location of that particular cup. This phase elucidates the experience of anticipation. Once the cups have finished shuffling, the observer would then select the correct cup, at this stage, they will experience a prediction, an almost guaranteed success. Right before the operator reveals whether or not the selected cup held the ball, the observer would then experience a sense of expectation. These three elements combine to create a sense of anticipatory joy – if per say the observer was successful.
During the shuffle, some observers may lose track of the redeemed cup and lose the desire to correctly choose. This alludes to the notion of an individual’s surrender and potential inability to desire. Or else they may aspire to replace the desire with another, for example, by utilising the cup as an instrument to quench their thirst – a completely different desire.
I have furthered the concept of the Shell Game and adapted it into a larger scale where multiple cups are used to heighten the difficulty. This aims to also enhance the experiences of anticipation, prediction and expectation during the process. The ‘ball’ is also substituted with one or more treats to again amplify the observer’s desire to win and be engaged, now that they are able to obtain a reward.
This major demonstrates a process to stimulate feelings of anticipatory joy to engage with the audience and assist towards the realisation of such a sensation. It narrows the feelings down to specific phases that are all significant in attributing to the ultimate emotion that result from one’s desire. It illuminates these phases that a normal person may not recognise and works to provide an understanding behind the psychology of anticipatory joy.
Seppala, E 2013, ‘How Desire Fools Us: The Benefits and Dangers of the Chase’, Psychology Today, 13 August, accessed 31 August 2015. <https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/feeling-it/201308/how-desire-fools-us-the-benefits-and-dangers-the-chase>
Stosny, S 2013, ‘Desire vs Emotional Need’, Psychology Today, 25 October, accessed 31 August 2015.
<https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/anger-in-the-age-entitlement/201310/desire-vs-emotional-need>
Burton, N 2014, ‘The Problem of Desire’, Psychology Today, 06 November, accessed 31 August 2015.
<https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/hide-and-seek/201411/the-problem-desire>
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concentration_(game)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shell_game#/media/File:Conjurer_Bosch.jpgÂ
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shell_gameÂ
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