Expression and Implication
Apocrypha: The Resurrected Portraits of Contemporary Political Indoctrination View Digital Media
Creative Practice Showcase Saral Surakul
Political indoctrination is often used to maintain the status quo in several countries. The strategy leads people to accept the legitimacy of authoritarian leaders without resistance. Opposing the government's views may lead to dire consequences. Apocrypha refers to biblical literature not included in the Catholic canon; similarly, the Apocrypha series conveys sentiments not generally discussed. The series expresses the metaphorical ideas of forbiddances, consequences, and disillusions in contemporary indoctrination. The author combines religious iconography with spiritual symbolism to characterize the artwork; the faceless Madonna suggests an idea of the motherland; rather than white doves, ravens are used to symbolize unobtainable freedom. The four images center around four concepts: Freedom incarceration: Many countries restrict freedom of expression and opinion. The image depicts the idea using ravens imprisoned inside Madonna's face as a metaphor. Educational indoctrination: The ideology ingrained in children through education shapes their doctrine as adults. The author communicates the concept by replacing Madonna's face with a caged brain stabbed by ice swords suggesting unalterable beliefs. Revelation: Global exposure gradually eradicates imprinted ideology. The picture delineates Madonna's face covered with numerous eyeballs, denoting the political awakening. Disenchantment: The last image depicts two Madonnas in the Pietà pose, one with a bleeding heart. A raven drinking her black blood illustrates the victory of liberty over ideology. The author's art blends societal issues with computer graphics emulating the works of old masters. The images are created digitally in advanced 3D software called 3dsMax and printed on canvas.
Exploring the Healing Implications through the Beautiful, the Sublime, and the In-between View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Chi-Ying Yu
This study combines theories from aesthetics and psychology to explore different healing philosophies and pathways within various types of aesthetic experiences. First, in Western aesthetics, the concepts of the beautiful and the sublime signify two distinct aesthetic states, which have been present in various art forms since ancient Greek times. The research explores the different psychological mechanisms of the beautiful and the sublime that have been found in numerous empirical studies. The study argues that the experience of the beautiful may serve as an appropriate healing catalyst for positive psychology. Its balanced, pleasant, and disinterested aesthetic qualities align with the goals of positive art therapy. On the other hand, the experience of the sublime may serve as an appropriate pathway for the practice of Second Wave Positive Psychology, as its uplifting characteristics in the face of adversity align with the concept of well-being as a dialectical interplay of positive and negative qualities. Finally, this study also incorporates Eastern aesthetic concepts, such as mono no aware, wabi-sabi, and yūgen, which elaborate on the experience of deep happiness in adverse situations. This study suggests that these concepts represent an in-between state of the beautiful and the sublime and a third type of aesthetic experience that contains healing potential.
The Expressive and Reflexive Value of Participatory Photography in Community-based Research with Young People View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Amalia Sabiescu, Noemi Zajzon
Photography has a long history of being utilised in social science research for its capacity to capture and document material culture and human behaviour. More recent articulations of participatory photography draw on its value as a tool for self-exploration and reflection to shed light on personal histories and experiences. In this paper we explore the role of participatory photography in engaging young people in deep, reflexive explorations of life and professional aspirations and their embeddedness in the socio-cultural environments that they are inhabiting. We report on two creative research workshops with distinctive approaches, the first focused on enhancing visual and photography skills as means for enhanced reflexivity; and the second engaging young people in a creative workshop-based experience for creating their personal aspirations zines. The two workshops were offered as part of a mixed methods study that looked at the role of cultural engagements in shaping young people’s aspirations. 285 UK-based young people from all walks of life have been involved in the research, through methods ranging from interviews to surveys, focus groups and creative research workshops. The analysis of this rich data corpus enabled us to single out the distinctive role played by creative research approaches in studying complex constructs such as aspirations and the personal experiences shaping them. The paper offers insights from this empirical analysis focusing on the approach and techniques for engaging young people and how these served to enhance their expressive potential and reflexivity in ways not afforded by traditional data collection methods.
