The Divided 'Self' Conceptual Video PRoject

My Artist Statement:

For this video project I have chosen to showcase and explore the concept of ‘the self’. I am particularly striving expose and ‘shed light’ on the struggle between presenting two parts of ourselves to the world. Specifically the parts of our ‘self’ that is deemed ‘good’ and acceptable in society, while simultaneously hiding the parts of our self that are ‘bad’ or socially undesirable and unacceptable. These may be manifested through feelings of anger, depression, dejection and misery. In a western society that proscribes and encourages people to flaunt and showcase the best part of ‘their self’ in everyday life, whether online or in the ‘real world’ we are frequently rewarded for being ‘good’ people, while whenever an undesirable part of our ‘self’ leaks out or is revealed it may be met with various medicalization discourse encouraging us to get ‘checked out’ or ‘seek help’ to hide away and/or bury our inner feelings of fury, strife and antipathy.

In a similar manner to sociologist George Herbert Mead and his concept of the divided self that he split into two distinct categories, I have attempted to explore this phenomenon through the medium of video. For Mead, he labeled one part of the self ‘i’ and the other part the ‘me’. In Mead’s analysis he argued that the ‘i’ represents the subjective part of the self, the side that is more instinctive, unpredictable and creative. Whereas the ‘me’ on the other hand represents the more objective side of the self, a side that is conscious of others and essentially takes note of their attitudes towards the self. As Mead also notes, individuals have the ability to take on the attitudes of other people around them. Moreover, it’s the process of acknowledging the attitudes and feelings of others, and then knowing “what they want and what the consequences of any act will be” (2007, p. 293), this is what constitutes the side of the self he labeled the ‘me’.

Fundamentally, my aim for this 'conceptual' video is for it to showcase the side of the self that desires to embrace feelings of anger and irrationality while also contrasting it with the inner struggle not to let those feelings ‘leak out’ by representing the self as ‘normal’, ‘sane’ and in control in our society.

In order to achieve this mission, I have altered/ modified various facets of my video, such as the; sound, colour, tempo, lighting and framing in order to showcase the ‘divided self’. Primarily this video shows the same location twice in order to represent the duality of the self and the dichotomous struggle between inner feelings and outer representations.

In short, my aim for this conceptual video project is to showcase and explore this concept of the ‘divided self’; the instinctive side of the self that may irrationally react angrily in some situations and therefore reveal our true feelings. While also exploring the other side of our ‘self’ that is conscious of the things that are socially acceptable in society, the side that may alter the way we present our ‘self’ to the world in order to be perceived as ‘natural’ and ‘normal’. My aim is not to cast judgment on the ‘divided self’, but to merely alert people to the fact that it exists.

References

Mead, G.H (1934) Mind, Self, and Society. Ed. By Charles W. Morris. Chicago: University of Chicago Press

Mead, G.H (2007) ‘The Self’ in C. Calhoun et al. Classical Sociological Theory, 2nd edition. Oxford: Blackwell