Derealization, the phenomenon in which things appear strange and unfamiliar, is usually understood as pathological or, at best defensive. I present evidence for an “aesthetic” form of derealization as observed and described by the artist Alberto Giacometti and propose that it served a critically productive role in his creative process. Not only did Giacometti experience derealization’s core estrangement, altered body images, obsessional skepticism, and prolonged observation, but these typically pathological features combined synergistically into a method of visual inquiry for him. A process that entailed the “deconstruction” of habitual and routine perceptions associated with day-to-day reality. This suggests that seeing things as unfamiliar, unknown, or even as meaningless may confer an advantage on the artist, both loosening the constraints of pre-conceptions and supporting alternative, fresh perceptions. Aesthetic derealization might also share with its clinical counterpart a common dissociative mechanism that separates perception from cognition or seeing from knowing. Whereas clinical derealization is crude and disorienting, the aesthetic variant is flexible and enlightening. Giacometti and perhaps other artists might employ an intriguing mix of sophistication and naivete in seeing things strangely.

Phantoms in the Brain

To make the familiar strange— aesthetic derealization in the work of alberto giacometti

Publisher Summary This chapter presents findings from the field of neuroscience into a conceptual model of eating disorder (ED). The regulation of appetite and eating involves both peripheral (body-brain connections) and central (within the brain itself) pathways. Many neural center and biochemical irregularities are considered causal in the origins of ED. For example, altered brain metabolism in the locus coeruleus, a concentrated mass of norepinephrine-secreting neurons, may leave individuals vulnerable to surges of adrenaline and noradrenaline which, in turn, create a continual state of anxiety, arousal, and alarm. Altered insula response to taste stimuli provides evidence that those with anorexia nervosa (AN) experience taste differently than a control group and that the insula and orbital frontal cortex (OFC) alter eating behavior by encoding changes in the value of food used as a reward. In addition, the smaller size of the thalamus and thalamic perfusion changes in AN suggest that the thalamus plays an important role in mediating ED. Finally, OFC malfunctioning and the subsequent increases in impulsivity are a risk factor for ED, and changes in the reward circuitry (ventral tegmental area, nucleus accumbens, and the prefrontal cortex) have been found in those diagnosed with ED.

Neuroscience: Contributions to the Understanding and Treatment of Eating Disorders

Spirituality, religion, politics, history, apocalypse and transcendence: an essay on a psychoanalytically and religiously forbidden subject

This article considers ways that transactional analysis theory and practice, including the therapeutic goal of cure, is consistent with recent discoveries in neuroscience. These discoveries include the plasticity and possible inborn ethical qualities of the human brain. The practice of transactional analysis is applicable not only to the cure of mental disorders but also to psychosomatic and somatopsychic disorders.

The Psychic-Somatic Continuum: Pathology, Cure, and Prevention

In this chapter, I will discuss my practice-based project, ‘Intelligence, Interaction, Reaction and Performance’, which consists of a series of performances that utilise new technologies. The first was Blue Bloodshot Flowers performed at Brunei University, West London, and the 291 Gallery, London, in 2001, and the second is Dead East, Dead West, which was performed at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, in August 2003. The performances which I directed consist of various physical/virtual interactions using a diverse range of technologies including motion capture,1 artificial intelligence,2 and/or 3D animation.

Phantoms in the Brain

Citations

To make the familiar strange— aesthetic derealization in the work of alberto giacometti

Neuroscience: Contributions to the Understanding and Treatment of Eating Disorders

Spirituality, religion, politics, history, apocalypse and transcendence: an essay on a psychoanalytically and religiously forbidden subject

The Psychic-Somatic Continuum: Pathology, Cure, and Prevention

Intelligence, Interaction, Reaction, and Performance

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