External Responses to Practical Work (Experiment)

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Differ

Response 1:

"The use of black and white checker paths in both images conjure up feelings of duality, an internal debate. Ambiguity leading to anxiety. This is confirmed more in the first image with the use of sharp edges and a cloud surrounding the figure on the paths head. Feelings of being lost and confusion are also evoked from looking at the figure in image one as she is reaching for something she is unable to see while focusing on the thoughts lingering above her head with tears in her eyes."

Response 2:

"First image - This looks more like a confrontation, rather than there being a victim and an instigator of fear. The creatures look quite cute, and I don't really find them scary, though the hallucinogenic quality of the piece is definitely disorientating.

- The lack of colour in the second piece makes it immediately more daunting, the characters seem to operate on a 2 dimensional plain, giving a stronger sense of direction to the action. I feel like what makes this piece feel more frightening then the other are the subtle contradictions that exist within the suggested motions of the subjects on the dimension. For instance, the cat is pointing forward, but its weight seems as if it could topple backwards, the mosquitoes would act to counterbalance to the sense of direction across the painting, but the middle one isn't uniform with the others and slightly breaks this effect. Little moments like this halt the natural flow of the eye across left to right and subtly undermine the cohesion of the experience, and give the illustration a much more uncanny and unnerving quality."

Response 3:

I think the works, while not scary in themselves, do well to connote the overwhelming sensation that occurs in fear

The first image makes me feel uneasy and anxious, I can see the character isn't in their preferred situation, instead tormented by their surroundings, or their torment is embodied by their surroundings

Both images, to me, appear to be some form of nightmarish dreamscape. I like this because, other than tv and film or videogames, dreams/ nightmares are the only chance humans get at experiencing their worst fears, a type of catharsis man has spent thousands of years stripping from real life only to repurpose through film, tv and the mass media

Response 4:

As a psychologist I am particularly interested artistic interpretation of the primal emotions. Rather than systematically studying emotions, it is refreshing to see them laid bare by the artist, in all their raw and unconstrained splendour.

The first painting speaks to my fear of emotional instability. At the outset, the painting and its accompanying text direct me inwards, evoking a sense of fear as it is experienced internally, within the psyche. The insect-ridden border that separates myself from the outer world appears malleable rather than distinct and secure. Unbidden visitors that have exploited this malleability plague my psyche, and I, clearly distressed, attempt a balancing act to manage this emotional onslaught, only to be infected in the struggle.

Within the second painting I take on the standpoint of the girl, adrift in an external environment of fear; my only direction forward, as paved by my inner psyche, leads to its epicentre. Even my journey into this exotic darkness looks to be thwarted by unruly troublemakers. 

Because the second painting appears as an external, material reality, my sense of fear in response to it is lesser than in the first; there is room for action in the face of the exogenous adversity. The first painting however cripples my sense of agency as I am overwhelmed by its internal devastation.  

Response 5:

The first image makes me think of being trapped in a situation where Im surrounded by things that make me uncomfortable. Pretty fearful stuff. 

The second image makes me think of a weird dream where Im not really with it, maybe on some weird journey where I have no idea what lies ahead. Also pretty fearful stuff.