research proposal

Siying Li

Work Title:

The dissonance& consonance of dual identities in art practices

Questions and Rationale

I am always interested in exploring the formulation and evolution of self-identity. As an indivisible part of the everchanging social landscape, individual is constantly and unconsciously influenced by external impacts and also vice versa. One can hardly tell apart what is truly “me” and what is the inner drive that pushes towards “beyond me”. The embodiment of the duality of self-identities are commonplace to be seen in all forms of art practices (e.g., the “voice in the head” in most film works).

Freud’s personality theory (1923) saw the psyche structured into three parts (i.e., tripartite), the id, ego and superego, all developing at different stages in our lives. These are systems, not parts of the brain, or in any way physical. Based on my practices in modelling, this proposal focuses on the expression of “ego” (model’s self-identity) and “super-ego” (model as a vessel of ideas and completion of design) and its interwoven connection across all art disciplines.

The status of super-ego plays with the idea of “walk out of one’s comfort zone”, to where our uncertainty, scarcity and vulnerability are maximized (Brown, 2011)— a psychological state in which things no longer feel familiar to a person and they are on the edge and (perceive they are) not in control of their environment.

To take a sociological approach, Festinger’s cognitive dissonance theory describes the situation when people are having conflicting attitudes, beliefs or behaviours, the feeling of discomfort will become an inner drive to hold all our attitudes and behaviours in harmony and avoid disharmony. The discrepancy between “ego” and “superego” causes anxiety and the degree of the effects often depends on how much disparity there is between the conflicting beliefs, how much the beliefs mean to the individual, as well as how well the person copes with self-contradiction (Tzeses, 2021).

What is a good level of anxiety? Is the transformation of superego to ego always considered a good thing? How much dissonance/sacrifice can we bear for creation of art? How do artists rationalize and internalize the environment around them? The boundaries are being pushed and questioned.

Objectives

• To identify the occurrence of duality in self cognition and negotiate areas of critical reflection from the position of ‘ego’ and ‘superego’.
• Study the definition and boundary of comfort zone. How do we tell apart the limit of comfort zone in an art practice?
• Research on artists’ process of unification of dual identities and its meaning to their self-sense-making and their future practice.
• Shape and refine my practice as a systematic learning process to develop a way of thinking/ coping with identity issues in art creation.

Methods

• Reviewing literature to build a theoretical base for further research.
• Practice based research including interdisciplinary dialogues, participant-led discussions, workshops, talks, events and (mainly) interviews.
• Documenting and sharing my work through audio and video recordings.
• Peer reviews, critiques and self-reflections in forms of blogs and online discussions.

Influences / contexts

• Alexander McQueen: A/W1995 show: the highland rape. A controversial and universally misunderstand work that received high criticism and accusation of misogynist. A twist on the world of haute couture when models are presented exposed and eccentric, creating a disturbing scene contradictory to conventional fashion runways.
• Phoebe Waller-Bridge:  Actress and screenwriter. The creator, head writer, and star of the BBC sitcom Fleabag. The fourth wall that engages the audience as the main character talks to the camera.
• Marina Abramović:  conceptual and performance artist. Her work explores body art, endurance art, feminist art, the relationship between the performer and audience, the limits of the body, and the possibilities of the mind.

Bibliography

Mannoni, Octave, Freud: The Theory of the Unconscious, London: Verso 2015 [1971], pp. 137–140.

Brené Brown (11 February 2011). “Tiptoeing Out of One’s Comfort Zone (and of Course, Back In)”.

Tzeses, J., 2021. Cognitive Dissonance: What It Is & Why It Matters. [online] Psycom.net – Mental Health Treatment Resource Since 1996. Available at: https://www.psycom.net/cognitive-dissonance