Visual Triggers custody of ge

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Visual
 Triggers
 
Thomas
 Everett

 Green
 
Spring
 2014
 
Tad
 Lauritzen-­‐Wright,
 Josh
 Brinlee,
 Haley
 Morris-­‐Cafiero
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Green,

 1
 

 

My work is a personal and abstract visual interpretation touching on various
phenomenology and ideas surrounding addiction. The imagery is inspired by disease and rapidly
forming infestations in nature. Moreover, the concept plays on the ideas of being human and
being captivated by a visceral, elusive force. Bill Wilson, in the 1935 text of Alcoholics
Anonymous, encourages the addict to “remember we deal with Alcohol [addiction], cunning,
baffling, powerful.” (58) I seek to visually express the power and energy that lie behind such
forces in my work. The work remains predominantly void of directly recognizable subject
matter, leaving interpretation open to each viewer, who may or may not have any previous
experiences with addiction. Negative interpretations of the concept might provoke ideas of greed,
lust, and other obsessions, whereas, converse translations could recall positive energies including
love, enamor, and spiritual atonement.
During the investigation into addiction and addiction theory, my personal reflections
seemed to draw a link between viewers confronting an image, painting, or other piece of art and
addicts confronting stimuli via the “visual trigger.” The result is similar in the sense that the
visual stimuli of both works of art and addiction triggers can provoke a memory, transport the

viewer, and produce emotional response. In lieu of portraying the grotesque in my work, and in
consideration of the ideas of the “visual trigger,” I have chosen to portray the beautiful and
organic, while keeping a “Pop” sensibility and approachability to the work. From science I have
drawn the basis for the images that I create. I have immersed myself into the contemporary
realms of microscopic photography. I employ a vibrant, yet simple color schema on circular
shapes, which are the most basic of all shapes, comprised of only one edge. The circular motif
conjures visual relations to Petri dishes and the visual orientation of objects “as seen” through

Green,
 2
 

 

microscopes. I am attracted to the expressions found on circular shapes because the energy of
the work can flow freely, never getting caught up in corners. Each painting, or “cell,” is
sometimes part of a larger installation that draws its placement from nature and the formations of
molds, necrosis, or other rapidly reproducing growths that involuntarily spread, but are presented
in an artful, almost playful manner. I seek to convey the excessiveness and paralyzing obsession
often attributed with addiction through multiplicity and encompassing installations.

The painting process employed is often experimental, involving a combustion method,
which is sometimes unpredictable. Encaustic is sandwiched lightly between layers of shellac that
have been colored using aniline dye, denatured alcohol, and various inks. Although nature and
the hands of the individual equally generate the final product, the process still seems to generate
a feeling of Zen, being centered, and provides a sense of transcendence into vast realms of
internal consciousness. Furthermore, the fluctuating nature of the media relates to the unstable
loss of control and euphoria the addict experiences while the consumption of drugs, food, alcohol
or other substances is taking place. I find myself lost in the work in a similar way that I have
found myself lost in an altered psychological state, induced by a substance, sexual encounter, or
other indulgence.
Critical Foundation
There has been a great deal of theory and interest surrounding the phenomenology of
addictive behaviors in history and still today. Famed theorist Martin Heidegger recognized “that
Hang (addiction) and Drang (urge) are more than merely “psychological” or “biological”
phenomena; they are fundamentally rooted in care, the dangerous supplements that can always
threaten to deflect Dasein [human being, existence] from its primary way of being.” (Clark, 8)
Additionally, theorist Friedrich Shelling suggests that Being (in itself) is a form of addiction.

Green,
 3

 

 

“What we call spirit exists by virtue of itself, a flame that fuels itself. However, because as
something existing, it is opposed by Being, the spirit is consequently nothing but an addiction to
such Being, just as the flame is addicted to matter. The most base form of the spirit is therefore
an addiction, a desire, a lust.” (Clark, 8) Theories have seemed to move over time, from the
theorist, into the hands of the medical doctor, and further into the heads of the psychologist.
In 1956, the American Medical Association began to consider alcoholism as a chronic
illness. “Then came the idea that addiction is a disease: a medical illness like tuberculosis,
diabetes or Alzheimer’s disease.” (Dodes) From this, the ideas surrounding addiction as a disease
neutralized the public’s perception surrounding addiction and dissolved the “bad guy” stigma
often surrounding those suffering from addictions. “The ‘disease concept’ is taught in addiction
training programs and told to patients in treatment programs. But is it true? And if it is not true,
is there a better and more helpful way to define addiction?” (Dodes)
Dr. Lance Dodes, in his article, “The Heart of Addiction,” from Psychology Today,
contends “{the answer} becomes clear if you compare addiction with true diseases,” ”there is no
infectious agent (as in tuberculosis), no pathological biological process (as in diabetes), and no
biologically degenerative condition (as in Alzheimer's disease).” (N.p.) Throughout recent

history, addiction has been classified into various categories of psychological disorder. There are
many different theories that suggest different variables and stimuli, which might cause the
addiction. These include the ideas that genetics, physical dependency, psychological disorders,
and brain dysfunctions attribute to the cause. Dodes suggests that Recognizing addiction to be
just a common psychological symptom means it is very much in the mainstream of the human
condition,” and that,“ addiction is essentially the same as other compulsive behaviors like
shopping, exercising, or even cleaning your house.” (N.p.)

Green,
 4
 

 

There is also some questioning that surrounding the ideas of visual stimulation, or
“triggers,” that can be causation of a generated psychological response.
the common denominator of a wide range of addictive substances is their ability to cause
psychomotor activation. This view is related to the theory that all positive reinforcers activate
a common biological mechanism associated with approach behaviors and that this
mechanism has as one of its components dopaminergic fibers that project up the medial

forebrain bundle from the midbrain to limbic and cortical regions. (Wise)
This psychological response is much like the effects that Art itself can “trigger” on the
individual. The parallel can therefore be drawn between the individual viewer responding to Art
(acting as the primary visual stimulus) and the addict responding to the visual trigger. “The
addict’s craving…is not a rational assessment or choice of any sort, but basically an irrational
compulsion arising from the repetition of a sequence of experiences in a process like that which
leads to a conditioned response.” (Weinberg, 154) The effect the addict experiences is felt
deeply, inducing a wild, bewildering emotional demeanor, causing a temporary paralysis in
rational behavior, inability to distinguish right from wrong, and a dream-like euphoria. “The
first area of our visual cortex to receive input from our eyes is called the primary visual cortex. It
was once thought that neurons in this area respond almost exclusively to stimuli coming from the
eyes. But we now know that the activity of these neurons is affected by “higher” brain centers
which are involved in prediction and planning.” (Barry, 1)
Historical Foundation
In order to generate the similar warped psychological state the addict experiences through
Art, immersive installations are key.
Because viewers are addressed directly by every work on installation art—by sheer virtue

Green,
 5

 

 

of the fact that these pieces are large enough for us to enter them—our experience is
markedly different from that of traditional painting and sculpture. Instead of representing
texture, space, light and so on, installation art presents these elements directly or us to
experience. This introduces an emphasis on sensory immediacy, on physical participation.
(Bishop, 11)
Artist Ilya Kabakov referred to this “type of work as a ‘total installation’ because it presents an
immersive scene into which the viewer enters.”
Although installation did not become a popular form of artistic expression until the 1960s,
the beginnings of installation art can be traced back to the early part of the twentieth century.
“Sigmund Freud’s writings were fundamental to Surrealism, and the 1938 International
Surrealist Exhibition is paradigmatic for the type of installation art” that “plunges the viewer into
a psychologically absorptive, dream-like environment.” (Bishop,10) In Freud’s The
Interpretation of Dreams, the psychoanalytic definition of a dream includes three main
characteristics, which include a first, primarily visual, which might contain auditory elements, a
second, composite structure, that may seem nonsensical until broken down into elements, and a
third, the ability of “each element to be replaced with an associative word or syllable.” (Bishop

16) Similarly, my work presents a number of visual images, textures, and auditory elements,
which I generate as associations to theories surrounding addiction, but not directly recognizable,
thus providing the viewer with visual cues that provoke their own analysis for self-interpretation.
“The 1938 International Surrealist Exhibition has become an oft-cited precursor of
installation art, celebrated less for the individual paintings and sculptures it brought together than
for its innovative approach to exhibiting them. “ (Bishop,8) The exhibition is often referred to
“as ‘Duchamp’s coal sacks,’ but these comprised just one element of the installation.

Green,
 6
 

 

Contributions by Man Ray, Salvador Dali, Georges Hugnet and Benjamin Peret played an
equally important role. Under the direction of Marcel Duchamp as overall producer (generateuraritre), the installation’s complex realization was an unquestionably collaborative venture.”
(Bishop)
Judy Pfaff, a sculpture and installation artist in the early emerging in the 1960s, explores
the ideas of excessiveness in her work. She combines painting, architecture, and installation into
vibrant sculptures that seem to blur the lines of distinction between 2D and 3D work. The

excessive repetition-- of bright colored circular forms jutting and sprawling on welded (pencil
rod) structures from the gallery walls--directly engage the viewer in an almost confrontational
manner. This same confrontational, no escape, subjection to imagery is the intention of my work.
Similarly, “Pfaff as a Marxist painter and Modern artist uses her artwork as a way of showing
control and expressing social commentary.” (Gallagher 1) But, she “allows the public to take
control over what ever meaning they want to give to her installation. Her installations are never
obvious, therefore the public is free to think whatever they want.” (Gallagher, )
Another artist emerging in the early 1960s, Yayoi Kusama, has employed the use of
circles and installation to convey her bouts with psychological disorders. The spots she employs
are significant in that they are representative of the hallucinations she suffers. The spots have
covered walls, ceilings, ladders, chairs and household objects. And more recently, she has
employed the shape in what she refers to as “infinity rooms.” These installations include
mirrored walls in which vibrant colored balls are suspended into the space. The interplay
between the mirrors creates an infinite and seemingly complex visual stimulus recreating both
the ideas of the vastness of the human psyche and the limitless realm of psychosis. (Bishop,69)

Green,
 7
 

 

Contemporary Peers
In a contemporary setting, my work possesses a great deal of similarity to the paper creations of
artist Charles Clary. Clary “creates a world of fiction that challenges the viewer to suspend
disbelief and venture into a fabricated reality.” (Clary) He builds “intriguing land formations that
mimic viral colonies and concentric sound waves.” (Clary) The constructions “question the
notion of viral outbreaks, transforming it into something more playful and inviting.” His
influence is extended by the fact that each piece is composed of elements that can stand alone as
a single piece of art or act as a component to a larger work, such as an installation.
In addition, Pippilotti Rist uses video film and projections to engulf the viewer into other
worldly installations composed of objective and non-objective abstract moving images. Her
imagery is fluid and hypnotic, often moving from microcosms—including humans and nature—
to macrocosms, like galaxies and astral bodies. My work could be attributed to any of these
artists: Yayoi Kusama, for the psychosomatic, obsessive qualities and repetition of circles;
Charles Clary, in the subjective realities based on various spreading growths and relations to
nature as well as the playful approach; Pippilotti Rist, for the encompassing spaces of which
viewers become a part; and to Pfaff and in their excessive qualities.
Trigger in Red is a 48-inch round painting that floats off the wall 2 inches. The painting
is large and alarming. It utilizes a vibrant color schema predominantly highlighted in red. The
surfaces are slick and seductive and the wild and beautiful lines within provoke the viewer to
recall the ideas surrounding out physical make up and medicine. Red, the color of stop signs,
fire and sirens strikes the viewer into recalling ideas surrounding biological functions of human
blood, and the circulatory system.

Green,
 8
 

 

Trigger in Red. Oil, encaustic, aniline dye, shellac.

Trigger in Orange and Blue is a 36 inch painting marked with an almost electric cool blue
and bright red-orange color schema. The vibrating play of color in the tetrad and rich split
complementary scheme generate a heightened sense of energy and provoke ideas of the
supernatural, while mimicking and alluding to my inspiration in fluorescent microscopic
imagery. The surfaces are also very slick and seductive, yet paired with this discordant color
creating both intrigue and attraction with a possible discomfort within the viewer.

Green,
 9
 

 

Trigger in Orange and Blue. Oil, encaustic, aniline dye, shellac.

“The Nature of Things” is an all-encompassing multi-media experience that fills the Arts
Memphis installation room in Hyde Gallery with animations and sound. Projections of multiple
layers of imagery fill the space from four projectors, shelved at various heights within the space.
All the imagery is taken directly from the paintings, then animated and mapped 360-degrees onto
the walls alongside the atmospheric sounds and stirring. The work begins to provide a further
context to the paintings that the viewer has experienced outside of the space. As the viewer
navigates further into the space, images project onto the viewer, suggesting they are now not
only in the space but are becoming part of it: they have been subjected to and afflicted with the
addiction in some way. The sound juxtaposes the unpleasant within the layers of relaxing and
tranquil (yet altered) music to creating a discomfort and bewildering tension amongst the oftenbeautiful imagery being projected. While the work could be arguably seen as ambiance, for

Green,
 10
 

 

those that stay to experience the full 10 minutes and 34 seconds, they reward is perhaps a peek
into the narrative of the cycles and patterns destructive forces in nature engage; a slow creeping
in, settling, taking over, and death.

Green,
 11
 

 

With so much confusion and conflict in theory surrounding the phenomenology of
addiction theory, this work conveys a visual explanation into the world that the addict
experiences. Furthermore, it invites viewers to suspend their beliefs for a short while and
renegotiate what is seductive and beautiful. Things that start out small, like a taste of something
sweet, can slyly introduce the urge to the individual to try more. Visualizations, memory, and
physical circumstance can trigger the individual to sample more, and over no specific designated
period of time, an attraction develops. Attraction can further develop and lead to obsession, and
soon, without much thought or intention, the individual has developed an addiction and is
encompassed by a drive and need to experience, indulge, use, or feed on that addiction. The
intent of the work is to provoke new thoughts or investigations into addiction psychology and to
generate a heightened visually stimulating experience that forces viewers to question our
importance and size in relation to the powerful unseen forces of nature.

Green,
 12
 

 

Works Cited

Clary, Charles. Artist Statment (n.d.): n. pag. Diana Lowenstein Fine Arts Gallery. Web. 07 Nov.
2013.
Dodes, Lance. "Is Addiction Really a Disease?" Psychology Today. N.p., 17 Dec. 2011. Web.
Wise, Roy A., and Michael A. Bozarth. "A Psychomotor Stimulant Theory of
Addiction." Psychological Review 94.4 (1987): 469-92. Print.
Weinberg, Darin, “Lindesmith on Addiction: A Critical History of a Classic Theory,”
Sociological Theory. Vol. 15, No. 2. (Jul., 1997), pp. 150-161.
Barry, Susan. “What the Brain Tells the Eye.” Psychology Today. N.p., 30 Aug 2012. Web

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Green,
 13
 

 


 
 

Green,
 14
 

 


 
Fig.
 1-­‐2
 
 Artist
 Judy
 Pfaff
 

Green,
 15
 

 


 
Fig.
 3-­‐4
 Yayoi
 Kusama
 

Green,
 16
 

 

Green,
 17
 

 


 
Figures
 5-­‐6.
 
 Paper
 artist
 Charles
 Clary
 

Green,
 18
 

 


 
Figures
 7-­‐8
 Artist
 Pippilotti
 Rist