MA Thesis : Distinction
This project was awarded a distinction by the The University of The Arts London towards the completion of my MA Industrial Design at Central Saint Martins in June 2019.
Exhibited @ Central Saint Martins
This project was exhibited at the Show Two : Design organised by Central Saint Martins in June 2019. This exhibition was open to public and lasted for one week.
Project Context
These poetic objects are designed to be used for therapy & self realisation. They create a scope for coming to peace with one’s own dark side. Whilst interacting with these objects, the unusual feelings that generate within one’s mind leads to better understanding of one’s unconscious desires. These objects are personification of the repressed emotions & hidden identities like narcisissm, machivellianism and psychopathy.
Ethnography and agile production forms the foundation of this project whilst the narrative and physical design was obtained through studying the following works :
Carl Jung’s - Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious.
Sigmund Freud’s - The Interpretation of Dreams
Matt Malpass’s - Contextualising Critical Design Practice
Skillset
Ethnographic Research, Contextual Interviews, Public Survey, Workshop Facilitation, Creative Writting, Collaboration, Rapid Prototyping, Art Direction.
Tools
Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Indesign, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Premier Pro, Rhino (3D), 3D Printing, Professional Production (Jewellery Workshop).
Project Timeline
01
Identifying The Issue
Behaviours displaying symptoms of physcial or mental abuse towards oneself or others, were under my radar for this project’s research. I was interested in knowing how destructive behaviour results in mental gratification and what are it’s psychological benefits. This project questions :
How can we identify destructive behaviours as a constructive conduct towards psychological personality development?
02
Academic Research
The narrative of the project is based in the works of Carl Jung in analytical psychology. Jung elaborates on the human psyche in two sections- Persona and the Shadow. All those qualities that a person is ashamed of, are accommodated by repression, forms the Shadow. As per Jung, the Shadow encompasses all the characteristics of one’s dark side.
Through this project I aimed at finding a way to acknowledge the hidden potential of one’s dark side to help achieve individuation. Individuation is a process of transformation whereby the personal and collective unconscious are brought into consciousness (e.g., by means of dreams, active imagination, or free association) to be assimilated into the whole personality. It is a completely natural process that has a holistic healing effect on the person, both mentally and physically.
Through the course of academic research I also studied - neurosis & mental health, psychology of cultural mythology and using critical design as a tool for discourse.
03
Narrative & Typology
In this exercise I used bench as a typology to personify the negative experiences of mental health issues. I altered the character of a bench from inviting & relaxing to more destructive & repelling. The hierarchy of these stages of negative experiences are reflected in the aesthetic and design structure of the benches.
04
Ethnographic Research
This phase of design research includes the following :
Online Public Survey
Social Experiment
Ideation Workshops
Research Visit to Auschwitz
Freudian Dream Analysis
Personal Interviews
05
Approaching Design
The inferences from the public research and model making exercises helped me in progressing to the next stage of the design process. In this phase I achieved the look and feel of my physical aspect of design. This was achieved through the following steps :
Personifying the Interview Insights
Agile Prototyping
Personifying Interview Insights
Elements of the Dark Side
Self Harm Jewellery / Human Nails & Metal
Therapy Object / Human Hair & Metal
Concept Drawings
Agile Prototyping
The Making Process
All the objects were made through a similar time-line :
Create a 3D model of the object.
3D print the object in castable wax resin.
Cast the final wax model into gilding metal.
Wait for the metal caste to be taken out after 24 hours.
Cut the object from the metal cast tree.
Finish and polish the rough cast to it’s shiniest form.
06
The Final Design
Objects for Therapy & Self Realisation
These poetic objects are designed to be used for therapy & self realisation. They create a scope for coming to peace with one’s own dark side. Whilst interacting with these objects, the unusual feelings that generate within one’s mind leads to better understanding of one’s unconscious desires. These objects are personification of the repressed emotions & hidden identities like narcisissm, machivellianism and psychopathy.
