No direction home. Just passing through Catherine Kennedy A thesis in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Fine Arts U.N.S.W Art and Design 31st August 2015 Acknowledgements It’s been a long and winding road and there are many I might thank. Louise Fowler-Smith for the final miles with unfailing optimism. Sally Clarke for the long haul and the hard yards. Gary Carsley for the embarkation. Jen and Rob Herbertson, Helen Kvelde, Stephanie Murphy for unending support. Daniel and Else, without whom none of it would have been possible. The many friends who formed the cavalry when the going got rough. 2 Table of Contents Introduction………………………………………………………………………... 6 Chapter 1 Symbols, metaphor, dreams and visual imagery………………………. 10 1.1 Metaphor 1.2 Dreams and the language of the unconscious 1.3 Myths, fairy tales and metaphoric narratives 1.4 Visual imagery as symbol and metaphor Chapter 2. The house as metaphor………………………………………………… 25 2.1 The house image in dreams 2.2The ‘universality’ of the house metaphor 2.3 The ‘unheimlich’ and the interior 2.4 The house image in film and literature 2.5 The house image in visual art 2.6. Withdrawing/venturing forth 2.7 Public and private dimensions of the house 2.8 The house and our material possessions 2.8 The house expresses itself in dualities Chapter 3. Reality is a montage. Using composite imagery to create new narratives………………………………………………………………………… 45 3 3.1 The alluvial narrative. Reality is a montage 3.2 Dominant narratives and the intersection of viewpoints and levels 3.3 Retextualising existing images 3.4 The composite image painting 3.5 The montaging of images in the songs of Bob Dylan 3.6 Artworks based on the combining of images/ personal explorations into the composited image and pictorial space. Chapter 4. The structure of self. Homeworld and the ‘In my mother’s house project’ 66 4.1‘Homeworld’ and the formation of self and identity 4.2 In my mother’s house project 4.3 Individual works In my mother’s house project 4.4 Rebuilding/remaking the house of self. 4.5 The authentic self and making genuine choices Chapter 5. At home with myself, at home in the world……………………………. 87 5.1 Home and identity 5.2 House as a mirror of self 5.3 Being “at home” 5.4 Structure or framework of home 5.5 Cultural differences 5.6 Childhood home 5.7 The project “Bringing it all back home” 5.8 The duality of prospect and refuge/ coming in, going out 4 5.9. The journey home Chapter 6. No direction home. Just passing through……………………………… 105 6.1 Seeking home in postmodern times 6.2 The underlying duality of the ‘self’ 6.3 In my daughter’s house project 6.4 No direction home 6.5 The hallway 6.6 The project - No direction home/just passing through Conclusion………………………………………………………………………….127 5 Introduction My project is located at the intersections of the formal studies of psychology and architecture. Louise Bourgeois envisioned the body as house; I am by extension articulating the house as a metaphor of the human psyche. The basis of this idea is outlined by Gaston Bachelard in his influential text The Poetics of Space (1969) in which he speaks of the house as a principle of psychological integration, a tool for the analysis of the human soul, a topoanalysis for the psychological study of the sites of our intimate lives, exemplified by Bachelard’s systematic and associative linking of parts of the house to personal attributes: the attic that speaks of the higher self, of mental activity of our aspirations; or the basement or cellar that implies the dark, the hidden, the unconscious, the subconscious, repressed/unacknowledged desires, and the hidden self. There were a number of source points for the project such as recurring dreams involving houses, an interest in psychology and the nature of the mind; noticing how often the house motif appeared in my work and so on. Ultimately there was the realization that the idea of the house provided a structure for the things I was interested in investigating such as the nature of the self, how the self establishes meaning, and the integration of the conscious and unconscious self. Chapter 1 investigates the way that representational images can be used as a symbolic visual language and can be a means of integrating conscious and unconscious thought. Chapter 2 examines in detail the idea of the house as a metaphor for the self, which is the basis of this project. I discuss the way the house can be contextualised as an act of portraiture and look at the way this visual image is used in literature and film as well as how it has been a means of exploring the psyche in contemporary visual art practice. In chapter 3 I explain my process of combining and layering images to produce an alluvial narrative. I discuss the notion of reality as a montage and the process of creating meaning by finding new associations between things. I look at the way composited imagery has been used by other artists to bring together different realities such as the external world and the world of ideas. Chapter 4 considers the ‘Homeworld’ display village as a metaphor for the construction 6 of self and identity in contemporary society, utilising ideas around templates, facades, floor plans and package deals to discuss ideas around the ‘acquired’ vs. the consciously constructed self. Chapter 5 looks at the way home and identity are intertwined and the way that the house is both an internal concept and also something that we act out on the world: a mirroring if you will. Notions around the authentic self are explored in relation to the idea of being at home and the search for meaning in relation to the narrative of seeking home. Chapter 6 considers the question of how the ‘self’ might find meaning in the context of postmodern uncertainty and fear of the future, and looks at the notion of finding ‘the way home’ in the absence of maps or directions. I consider the house’s underlying duality between ‘venturing forth’ and ‘abiding safely within’ in concert with the duality inherent in the ‘self’ between reflection and projection. I consider the sites of interchange between inside and out such as doors and windows, and finally I explore the hallway as a site of transition. My practice has undertaken 4 projects: Bringing it all back home, In my mother’s house, In my daughter’s house and finally The hallway project which became No direction home. Bringing it all back home, the first project, is the starting point of the investigation and asked the questions Where am I? How did I get here? Essentially it involved an investigation into the childhood home and family of origin. Reaching up into the attic, and going down into the cellar, represents investigating the thoughts, dreams and aspirations of the conscious mind as well as the fears, guilt and submerged memory of the unconscious. The childhood home is where we form our essential self. This piece implies the dual nature of reflection via the pods that are lit from within, and shining out, as well as the mirror of the base that is reflecting back, repeating image and experience; looking into the past, becoming the future. In my mother’s house examines building or constructing the house of self; identity formation; the construction of persona; and the nurturing of the private self. Here I considered nature/nurture aspects, imprinting, the self within society and culture and the conscious construction of the self vs. the acquired self. These questions led to research 7 around the nature of freedom and choice. In particular I considered whether the individual is actually capable of making real choices or whether we are always affected by the constraints operating on us. I considered notions of renovating and rebuilding in relation to the ability of the self to effect real change. In my daughter’s house considered understanding the self through relationship and how others can reflect back aspects of our self to us. It looks at the projection of ‘the self’ forward, of one’s part in the formation of another, of both being mothered, and, in the fullness of time, becoming mother to another. It involved seeing from both sides, being both subject and object, looking out from the self and looking back into the self. The meaning of reflection kept coming up, both in the sense of mirroring, echoing, repeating and in the sense of considering, meditating on, imagining and dreaming. A dual nature of home began to emerge: the house we dream about and the house we build. I started to see that home was both an internal construct as well as an external one. From my ‘house sitting’ experience I saw how much each person’s personal space reflected aspects of who they were, while from my dreams and from meditation I could reflect on subconscious perceptions on the nature of self. The understanding of self that is gained by looking inward needs to be balanced by the understanding gained from observing one’s actions in the world. I became unsettled about this duality as well as my inability to tie down notions of house and self. The idea of the house as a space that nurtures and protects us (Bachelard’s space for dreaming) conflicts with the idea of house as a space from which we view/look out onto the world.