Expression of Mentality through Materiality of Object - Research Paper Example

Mentality and materiality When I wrote my masters thesis on reason and psycho-pathology at Seoul National University in 2009, collecting and researching materials to investigate causes for and symptoms of specific mental activities such as psychopathological symptoms or phobias, I came to be interested in physical treatments in which the symptoms improve with medicines. Unlike the ordinary idea that differentiated mind from matter, this clearly proved that even things we had considered mental were kept under the control of matter (Harris, 2012:45). Through this study, I do not try to deny the mental aspects of men but try to consider and study their mental activities as a compound of physico-chemical causality and to express them in a more concrete and visual method. Therefore, the following discussion implements the research findings through the argued out philosophies, secondary, and primary data sources, and sole resolutions on establishing the relationship following various interviews with affected respondents (Przytycki, and Urbański, 2010:46). Mainly, the discussion shall focus on the mental effects that deciphered through physical actions and emotional distress in human beings, by answering the following questions. Can the process of mens inherited characteristics, for example, personalities change in accordance to external factors expressed in material properties of objects and physical laws? Can a specific sample of the population reflect on the whole structure of study findings? David Bohm The main resolution while tackling the issue of philosophy and the ideal relationship with human nature as forecasted in physiological characteristics. David majors his concerns on the coherent factors borne of the human behaviours that correlate with the mentality as forecasted in the individual deeds. Further, the philosopher argues out on the general nature of mentality that harbours man from cohabiting and exhibiting his feelings to the environment. Entirely, David acknowledges that the conflicting interest between mental and material variables is continuous thus; it is impossible to ascertain on any completion of the same or a probability that the variables shall halt, a phenomenon referred to as the wholeness and the implicate order (Harris, 2012:46). As a physicist, David Bohm, is among the most creative thinkers of the early 20th century and he is accredited of the Hologram theoretical approach in arguing out different ideologies surrounding human lives. Stanley Milgram and Philip Zimbardo The two psychologists experimented the extreme external factors such as an electroshock device and a prison to change a ‘normal’ persons character, and the reason presented me a more concrete and visible method of expression (Tyson, et al 2009:67). The efficient arrangements of various external factors, mostly emotional, influenced my experimentations with theatrical elements. Eventually, I established the reasons and structures intrinsic and attributable to mental activities that resulted in more physical activities (Ritzer, 2010:56). Arthur Bispo Once admitted for a mental disorder, the philosopher happened to exhibit his work with the help of a psychoanalyst. His exhibition, which was filled with unique and impressive objects, held at V&A, could not but be impressive to me for two reasons: First, his works that clearly show his medical history to me who was looking for a research subject who was in a special mental situation became an opportunity of expanding the scope of the targets. The second reason originated from a somewhat personal experience (Tyson, et al 2009:68). A professor ailing from stroke, who had long been a tutor of mine, and he who became like a baby and I alone have been to Africa. He put everything he saw in his bag during the trip, and I had to explain the reason to policemen who came running with the owners of the things on all such occasions. The desperate ten-day trip was an amazing experience in which I observed the extreme correlation between reason and desire and was able to face various methods of expressing desires biased towards one side (Tyson, and Archer, 2005:56). Keith Tyson As a British sculptor, he developed a series of research projects with the themes of art machine, Nature Painting, Geno/Pheno Painting based on his career in the field of engineering, practicing arts in the form of a scientific experiment. I expect that his approach in which he expresses natural science, mathematics, sociology and astronomical explorations through hybrid media such as objects, painting, machining, drawing and so on, and asks questions about the essence of existence, the position of men in the world and complex systems around men will help my research (Outsider Archive, 2006:55). Especially, the drawings in the Exhibition Studio Wall Drawing held at his studio in 1999 , I think, it is a wonderful combination between scientific analysis and artistic imagination. Further, in Large Field Arry in 2007, I came to think of the forms of my works and exhibitions in the future along with various methods of expressing objects (Tyson, et al 2009:69). Tom Friedman He, who aims at ‘everyday art’ like Arthur Bispo mentioned above, creates conceptual sculptures of common objects which are geometrically and elaborately arranged and induces an idea of the ways of existence of matter, the actions of creation and the invisible systems of everyday life (Hornstein, 2009:56). In particular, the obsessive and paranoid tendency of his works is an attractive subject of study to me in relation to the deep interest in psychopathic symptoms, and I would like to include his unique language of sculpture that delightfully and philosophically connects and unravels between ‘everyday life’ and ‘essence.’ Fractal theory An American, Mandelbrot, conceived this geometrical theory in 1975, argued out of the similarities and differences between regular and irregular shaped earthly objects, and their implications to human life. Further, William Blake mentioned the passage, “See a world in a grain of sand” about 200 years ago. He tried to find a harmonious order beyond micro and macro levels, and many sociologists, for example, Sigmund Bauman, eventually used it as a research method for social phenomena. Therefore, I borrowed the Fractal theory to get a sense of the whole part of my research to express invisible order in the world through the structures of individuals mental activities (Tyson, et al 2009:70). Approach Setting my research within a historical context is complex, as the thesis questions are located in separate fields. Pythagoras, an ancient Greek philosopher and mathematician, greatly developed natural philosophy and insisted on the existence of an invisible mathematical order. He expressed that, “Evolution is the law of life; Number is the law of the universe.” He shows a metaphysical approach to mens mental activities instead of concrete research (Silva, 2004:56). This ancient trend naturally created an academic atmosphere of focusing on “a priority” in the domain of mind, and until the modern times, mind had remained in the domains of philosophy and religion. A mixture of mental activities and religious doctrines formed during the middle age disappointed objectivity and analytical approaches. Accordingly, arts that expressed the mentality with realistic senses ranked low in spite of the information added to the original findings thus; there could neither be a physical analysis nor a study on mental activities. Eventually, in the modern times after the Renaissance, mental activities became the subjects of academic analyses and works of art became recognized as research findings and not imitations of reality. The historical absence of objective research on mental activities establish a controversy to the natural scientific arguments. Linkages among Descartes, Nietzsche, and Freud dragged the position of mental activities to subject human mental activities as objects of research thus; the philosophers established different approaches in expressing the various ways with a consideration of different arts. Kandinski’s article, "On the Spiritual in Art," explained on the forms and colors that should express the emotions of artists, pursuing strictly mathematical aesthetic values. Faktura added a concept of the Russian avant-garde artists such as Rodchenko, Malevich and Tatlin, as an experimental concept by which the tools in the process of production were regarded as a mechanism to produce visual signifiers. During 1920s, U.K., started the heat of analytical philosophy thus shedding light on the consciousness structure inherent in the languages and mental activities as structural compounds. The social atmosphere made artists stick to a more rational and critical position and spurred conceptual art through minimalism. Interestingly, a coincidence emanated at the occurrence of the start of conceptual art and the quantum mechanics. Precisely, the thought experiments of quantum physicists such as Einstein and Schrödinger implied a significant philosophical question like the lyrics of American conceptual artist La Monte Youngs Composition 1960. The relationships among natural science, philosophy and art of which the boundary became blurred since the modern times have been studied by contemporary artists such as James Turrell, Olafur Eliasson and Gabriel Orozco till now. Methodology A Visit to Bethlem Hospital The Bethlem Royal Hospital is widely recognized for its specialty in carrying out tests, handling, and treating patients with mental illnesses. Arguably, the Hospital is an associate of the Kings College London, and the Kings College London Institute of Psychiatry, which is a major center for psychiatric research (SīLāNanda, and Heinze, 2002:87). Therefore, presumptions are that accessing the database at the hospital would be beneficial in establishing clinical cases of psychopathological symptoms. Further, Bethlem Royal Hospital Archives and Museum operated by the hospital provide artworks, and archives of mental patients. Because of the limited opportunities for interviews with the patients or encounters with concrete clinical cases, a visit to the archives shall service the need for an analyses on the patients mental structures, and to study their individual methods of expressions. Study through experiment/practice Instead of large-scale psychological equipment as that in Dr. Zimbardos experiment, I will record results artificially directing moments of trifle conflicts people face dozens of times every day. This study that might look like a somewhat malicious trick will be used mainly as a material for me to establish the process and structure of sharing and shifting responsibilities and the correlation between desire and reason in my own way. Furthermore, I expect that this experiment with anonymous people will be helpful for my study to express mental activities related to physical laws such as action-reaction (Eboe-Osuji, 2012:45). I would try to study various methods of expressions using physical laws as a means to describe and express structures and systems linking to practices. Modern artist Olafur Eliassons works based on in-depth understanding of natural science and experiments directly influenced my study (Vaughn, 2012:47). Currently, I am interested in studying gravity, chemical incorporation and so on and will focus on using them as a method of expressing the process of forming desires or time. In particular, I am working on a work of expressing the structures of chemical formulae of various medicines used to treat mental diseases through physical association of ordinary objects (Dijoseph, 2010:56). Conclusions and findings The study was intrinsic in establishing the desired findings on the history of research in relation to human mental activities and the natural scientific accomplishments (Catherine, and Sayadaw, 2011:58). Further, investigating the world views on mind and matter in each period, led to the establishment of facts that the characteristics and roles of art in the period changed in accordance to the relationship between two elements. In relation to the various theories and researches discussed above, conclusions are that there are organic correlations between the man’s mind, and matter and the art (Mathews, 2005:56). The subsequent analyses supporting the arguments establish concrete grounds of the research thus; a scholar shall find the research as of salient value in establishing a basis and scope for other researches on a relevant study title. Bibliography Catherine, S., and Sayadaw, P.A. 2011. Wisdom Wide And Deep A Practical Handbook For Mastering JhāNa And Vipassanā. Boston: Wisdom Publications. Dijoseph, J. 2010. Noble Cause Corruption, The Banality Of Evil, And The Threat To American Democracy, 1950-2008. Lanham: University Press Of America. Eboe-Osuji, C. 2012. International Law And Sexual Violence In Armed Conflicts. Leiden: Brill. Harris, J. 2012. Fractal Architecture: Organic Design Philosophy In Theory And Practice. Albuquerque: University Of New Mexico Press. Hornstein, G. A. 2009. Agness Jacket: A Psychologists Search For The Meanings Of Madness. New York: Rodale. Mathews, F. 2005. Reinhabiting Reality: Towards A Recovery Of Culture. Albany: State University Of New York Press. Outsider Archive. 2006. Raw Vision. London, Raw Vision. Przytycki, F., and Urbański, M. 2010. Conformal Fractals: Ergodic Theory Methods. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Ritzer, G. 2010. Globalization: A Basic Text. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell. Silva, V. G. D. 2004. Artes Do Corpo. São Paulo: Selo Negro EdiçÕes. Tyson, K. 2006. Large Field Array. Humlebæk: Louisiana Museum Of Modern Art. Tyson, K., and Archer, M. 2005. History Paintings. London: Haunch Of Venison. Tyson, K., Weck, Z. D., Ferreira, P. G., and Skorupski, T. 2009. Keith Tyson: Cloud Choreography And Other Emergent Systems. London: Parasol Unit. U SīLāNanda, and Heinze, R.I. 2002. The Four Foundations Of Mindfulness. Boston, Wisdom Publications. Vaughn, R. G. 2012. Successes And Failures Of Whistleblower Laws. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. Read More