#transitional phenomena

[gilly-psycho-journal]

TRANSITIONAL PHENOMENA The original concept of transitional phenomena was used by Donald Winnicott to describe the intermediate area of human experience between inner reality and the outside world. The prototypical example is that of the transitional object, the first not-me possession of the baby. Thus a real, usually soft object is found by the baby and used as a defence against anxiety.

The transitional object represents a real paradox in that it is not an internal object; it is a possession yet it is not an external object either. It grows out of the baby's relationship with the breast (which represents the whole technique of mothering) and his own body. For example, while sucking on his thumb he weaves not-me objects into his own autoerotic experience and personal pattern. Thus the transitional object allows for the illusion of infantile omnipotence at the same time as it forms a bridge to the outside world and the process of disillusion and the development of a shared reality. The ordinary care of the mother closely adapting to and meeting her infant's immediate needs fosters in the infant the illusion that what he desires he actually creates.

[gilly-psycho-journal]

What do Teddy bears and the Catholic Eucharist have in common? 

because I think... they are real. It's all real. Think about it. Haven't Luke Skywalker and Santa Claus affected your lives more than most real people in this room? I mean, whether Jesus is real or not, he... he's had a bigger impact on the world than any of us have. And the same could be said of Bugs Bunny and, a-and Superman and Harry Potter. They've changed my life, changed the way I act on the Earth. Doesn't that make them kind of "real." They might be imaginary, but, but they're more important than most of us here. And they're all gonna be around long after we're dead. So in a way, those things are more realer than any of us. 

[claresmith]

response 2 final critique

for this piece i was thinking about the way i portray myself vs the way that others see me. I’m very interested in the gap that exists between the two selves and i wanted to explore the area where they intersect. i feel like it was partially an effort to try to expose more of my true self / my thoughts to my classmates. i dont particularly love to share my sketchbooks with people i don’t know very well, and dealing with groups of people who already know each other makes me even more nervous than complete strangers, but by the time finals came around i feel like i was finally at a comfortable enough place to really put myself out there. i want to be closer with the people in my life and one of the ways you can do that is by reaching out and sharing parts of yourself.

i was really inspired by amanda and zac and roya for making such deeply personal works that had such an impact on me. a lot of their pieces came from place of pain, and i wanted to continue with my quasi-theme for the semester of comfort and acts of love, care and affection. it took me a long time to get to where i am in my relationship with myself, and i’m glad i could build a space where i could condense and reflect on who i have been in the past couple years. i also wanted to involve drawing in my final, as its so much of my life and how i process things. i want to explore ideas through art and create opportunities for people to feel like they’re not so alone. 

what is the self?  how can different objects represent you or play the character of yourself? how does one describe themselves non-verbally and what counts as a self portrait? in what ways do the objects and documentation of my life reflect who i am and where i’m going? how can i make people see the real me?

i thought a lot about winnicott’s essay on the transitional object, i was never breast fed, so maybe this essay doesn’t apply to me, but i thought of my transitional object as a stuffed cat i picked out on my third birthday, and my transitional phenomena as drawing. i realize now that these are less transitional objects and phenomena, and more of the first extensions of myself outside of myself that i could directly manipulate. these things i described fall outside and inside of winnicott’s description for the infant’s first possession and transitional phenomena. 

for this piece i created a small room (6ft x 8ft) in the corner of the critique room and filled it with pictures of myself, personal items like stuffed animals and blankets, pill bottles, sketchbooks, notebooks. I had drawings from middle school to the latest semester of college, and a project I did in 2nd grade called ‘clare land.’ clare land was very problematic for a variety of reasons but most people enjoyed it.

the piece was titled ‘pictures of myself.’ i think it went over well overall. the construction wasn’t particularly great because I had never built anything like it before, but it did the job and it didn’t fall on anyone and crush them during crit. i think everyone enjoyed it and the different elements of myself that i added in. some critiques i got were to improve the construction, and to make the space seem more lived in. both are good critiques and something to do for next time, as i can only see this project growing and evolving over time. 

the professor said he missed the element of aggression i had in previous pieces, and i thought that was funny, ive never thought of myself or my art as aggressive, but im seeing what he means. we had the conversation of how art can either be a vessel or a method of transportation. this was definitely a vessel piece, i think the aggression i’m missing might help it transform, but what it will transform into and what it will transform for people is what i’m not so sure about. i want to push it further and see what comes of it, i want to push myself further and be more honest with myself so i can really learn and improve.