Presentation for Review 3

Review#3 Presentation
Kumkum wanted me to present the process so far in tems of research, analysis, ideas, concepts etc.
After this Review, a lot of things in my project changed-the intent had to be redefined because i had opened up the phenomenon of the placebo effect and touched upon much larger concepts. (check presentation for the larger concepts). I had also stumbled upon a form, not he final one, but this form helped broaden the topic at first, and helped me narrow down to a focus.
After feedback from my panel, I had to narrow down the focus to 'Self' and open up the premise of belief because that would add some meat to my narrative and accordingly redefine the intent. So a lot of simultaneous work has been happening for the past two weeks.
I think I have arrived at a more fixed focus (Self) and made the connection to Belief.
I had spoken to Mr. Ravindra and he helped me structure and pin down my focus.

Also, in terms of the form I have been doing some Explorations and getting back in touch with Processing. I made the Delay happen and also a few other fun things. (will put them up soon)

Sketches after redefining intent

Sketches

Ideas for installation

13^th August

Key words derived from the phenomenon: Broader Concepts: idea of perception, action reaction, belief, human response to (Inert) stimuli, appearances, measured and controlled deception, illusion, positive effect

Attributes of a mirror = illusion, perception, action reaction, the idea of what you see is what you believe, response to stimulus, conditioning, controlled measured deception, separate ‘You’ from ‘you’, appearance,

15^th August

Idea of action reaction – How does this fit into the framework of a placebo?

Case1-Parallel1: The idea that you are given a pill (action) and you expect the healing to happen (reaction) – placebo is the pill because you believe the pill will heal you. (Mind play because both the action and reaction is happening from the same mind)

In case 1, the pill is a medium (stimulus) for a placebo to happen whereas, in case 2, the mirror is a medium (stimulus) for a placebo to happen.

Case 2-Parallel2: The idea of action-reaction through a mirror

You look in the mirror.

You see yourself.

You do an action.

The mirror does the same thing (instant reaction). Mind is conditioned to get an instant reaction.

There is a delay of 10 sec in the reaction.

There is an immediate separation of you and him.

Now you perform an action.

The mirror performs it for you, but 10 sec later.

Your actions are in your control but yet you wait for a response. This action itself means that ‘he’ is separated from ‘you’.

The situation is such where ‘he’ is following your actions. The response follows your actions.

Through something, through color? Touch? Interaction with yourself, can “you” follow he instead…?

Why the separation of “me” and “him”?

Placebo effect is a psychological effect. The body is looking for an effect to take place. After the intake of the sugar pill, the body believes that that the sugar pill is healing it. So the healing happens, just that it is the body that heals itself, not the sugar pill.

The process of healing itself – to translate this process into a space, the illusion that ‘you’ are separate from ‘me’. It is a self-generated process, which means the action and the reaction, are both generated in the body itself. And the body is actually healing itself sub-consciously.

Now in order to think in terms of a space the first idea was to separate the subconscious and the conscious i.e ‘he’ and ‘me’ respectively. Start a dialogue between ‘he’ and ‘me’.

17^{th August}

As Triveni said, “understanding the cause and effect equation”

Bringing about a receptive state of mind.

Ways of going ahead..getting unstuck.

--WATCH--ASK
---------TRY

Certain unanswered questions - kind of sorted.

After talking to people i inferred that there are essentially Three conditions for a placebo to happen:

1. Expectancy effect

2. Classical conditioning

3. Motivation

Interpretations of a placebo

“Perceiving a reality but questioning that reality, whether it is real or pretentious” - Nupur

“Placebo – something not real, pretends to be something and poses itself to be real…End result – a placebo takes place.” – Mr. Ravindra

3 questions to be addressed, which will eventually give, rise to the form:

1) Placebo addressing what? – Stress related problems and people (defining the audience/context)

What’s ironic about a placebo is that, it is something not real, but makes people believe it is real. And this effect is one of the most exploited in therapy.

2) The Form is going to be the link that makes the placebo happen

Using art in therapy as a resource – may understand how art therapy (color, image, construction of an image, as an experience) is used in a more scientific way to understand how imagery can trigger off my own form, which is going attempt a placebo.

My placebo is going to address stress.

So, according to the three conditions mentioned above, I need to create a condition (stress related) where the need to address it will arise, creating a condition for a placebo to take place.

How is the problem of stress addressed in art therapy?

What is that a person is made to talk, draw, think, act?

How is the person made to express his/her stress?

3) What does the form do?

Help me use my learning and constraints in an efficient manner to meet the goal of creating a placebo.

Make people believe their stress is gone by creating an illusion.

The big question: Why am I doing this? Using my learning of art, design, space, and electronics in a very therapeutic approach to create an installation on placebo?

My constraints:

Color

Image/constructed image

Light

Touch (may be)

Premise: Art in therapy

1. What is art in therapy?

2. How is it used?

3. How can color be used to tap into the subconscious. Application?

4. How is stress handled in art therapy?

5. What are the ways /devices to express stress in art therapy?

6. When and how use of / need to construct of image in order to express one’s feeling?

7. Do patients construct the images?

8. The therapist who shows pictures to understand their state of mind? Either way,

9. How can Color be used to control mood/build up to expect an emotion? (climax music?)

10. How/in what ways a patient’s state of being is identified?

11. While practicing art in therapy– looking at color, image construction.

12. What are the ways in which color be used as stress management/relief?

Understanding belief

20^th July

Importance of understanding the idea of belief-how is it defined/how people react/respond. Understanding this might give a clue as to how a placebo takes place/manifests itself at a later stage.

Placebo is a manifestation of belief, therefore understanding placebo as a mechanism in everyday life.Speculation on how belief occurs in different contexts? (Spiritual, social, psychological, philosophical levels)

As per the talks, it is easier to map the where all belief occurs.

• After the talking to the astrologer, one observation was that when belief is seen as a spiritual occurrence.
• A strong and conscious belief is seen in God. (his connection to God through meditation).
• From the story he told, it was easy to infer how he uses the 'expectancy technique' which takes place as a placebo effect.

After talking to the homeopath, belief was a motivational push to 'vital force' to bring about a placebo effect.

• Homeopathy is a topic of controversy. Since there is no such plausible evidence, many in the western culture have termed it as a pseudoscience.

• Acceptance of homeopathy in Indian culture (analogy of a duck to water): Indian culture has an inherent metaphysical backing which makes it easier for the Indians to accept homeopathy due to the philosophical attribute attached to it

Vital force=Mind

Mind over body equation

• Possible placebo: Positive energy in the form of motivation acts as a placebo (theory # 3)

As a homeopath, empathetic role-playing to bring about awareness of the problem/relation between disease, illness and circumstance.

When this awareness is brought, the patients themselves come up with solutions. (Possible placebo?)

To create a receptive state of mind = understanding the cause and effect equation + indicative medicines.

Observation/Conclusion: All people need sometimes is a motivation/external push to the vital force present within for a placebo effect to take place.

Shows the mind over body control through a placebo, which could be a psychological state of mind. (diagram: head & body)

25^th july/almost the 26^th morning 1.06AM

It has been a week

the progress goes like this:

From thought of confusion to certain clarity

I have already spoken to two people and hopefully will be talking to the third person tomorrow. The earlier two people I spoke to were an astrologer and a homeopath.

I have to still write down the conversation I had with them to see how people abundantly practice placebo(the power of belief) through their profession. In their own respective ways they both use belief and faith either in god or in the medicines prescribed to formulate solutions/answers to questions by giving hope that everything will be okay.

I have to still consolidate the conversation and the research in terms of ideas of possible outcomes and ideas for my own installation.

Exercises like the Rorschach inkblots, similar to this exercise I have to ask Anna Chandy(T.A) if she can suggest a few more. I have to also look up transactional therapy games? – both reading and Youtube.

17th July - Focus, focus? where is it?

(Thoughts of confusion)

I am really confused. I am stuck at the part where I have to go collect stories. I am certain I need material to introspect on, if I intend to write a narrative. But also, “belief ” is such a topic, which has a lot of solving and clearing out of my own prejudices before talking to anyone else. I am struggling to do that. More like, how do I go about clearing out my own prejudices?

Also interviewing some people might actually help me clear my prejudices (in a way) but it needs to be a very focused interview (I need to interview pple in such a way or ask those Qs. Where I can get to the experiences I am looking for) and I need to identify who all is it I am talking to? Since I am looking at Placebo and how a placebo makes use of Belief as a powerful medication, I will be interviewing counselors (psychotherapy) and Homeopaths. But this is only in the area of medicinal practice. There are more aspects through which belief can be looked at like “belief in a supreme power”, “belief in yourself-internal belief”, “belief in someone else – external belief” – This sort of opens up the premise of Belief especially that area where what is it that people have belief in, more than questioning what belief is?

I am feeling really stuck and I think I am wasting time just thinking. What should be my next step?

I met Vasanthi day before yesterday, and another way to go about the abstract idea of belief would be to somehow symbolize it and use it as a metaphor to say many things. I actually got homework: to look up the term “Metonymy” and how it is different from a Metaphor and see possibilities of how I can convert this idea abstract idea of Belief into something more tangible.