Book Review: Affect in Artistic Creativity – Painting to Feel by Jussi A. Saarinen

Most Art Therapists and Art Psychotherapists have a belief in the healing qualities of the media. It is a shared article of faith that creative material processes, of themselves, can promote the development of health and stability. Nevertheless, we also know that the relation to the material element is not without hazard. This is a problem for us, I think, because we can never be certain about the relationship between a service user, or client, and the physical material she manipulates. In terms of the relation that the other has to substance and process, we are always on the outside.  This book by Jussi A. Saarinen, who is a psychologist and a post-doctoral researcher in philosophy, explores the painter’s relationship to painting, the ‘experience itself’ (2021: 1. italics the author). Saarinen stresses that he is not concerned with expression but with what painters feel ‘because they paint’ (2021:1). His book is essentially a carefully constructed argument, which engages with philosophical literatures, psychoanalysis, recent cognitive theory and interviews with artists, in support of the proposition that: “Painters paint to feel.” (2021: 1.  Italics the author).  &nbsp

Editorial

Here in the UK the NHS is, as might be expected, very much in the news, and the threat of the world-wide pandemic, as our readers will know, has affected all our practices, exposing inequalities, economic, political and social failures, which demand attention. This volume of the journal, produced under the shadow of our contemporary anxieties, addresses the imperative of the present situation. The contents of this issue reveal aspects of the current contexts in which art therapy practitioners, artists, trainers, students and researchers, are exploring experience, developing new practices and creating fresh understanding.&nbsp

Looking for a Subject - Art Therapy and Assessment in Autism

This research makes use of a case study methodology employing discourse analysis. It represents a reflection on the practice of art therapy assessment in a service which provides a diagnosis of children who present with Autistic Spectrum Disorders, that is, with social impairments, communication disorders, developmental delays and behavioural problems. An investigation of art production in assessment and an interest in the institution’s discourses, are pursued through the construction of case reports. Four subjects (children aged 4 years, 5 years 8 months, 7 years 7 months, and 11 years 5 months) are presented in three forms. Firstly as “documentary subjects” through an analysis of the clinic’s documents. Secondly as “ekphrastic subjects” – here the subjects are presented through a description and reproduction of the art work produced in the assessment, and thirdly as “discursive subjects”, presented through an analysis of speech and actions recorded on video. Emphasis has been given to the discursive construction of subjectivity and the relation between subjects and art production. The documentary subjects illustrate a story showing that difference disrupts and families seek a restoration of union through engagement with professionals. This story provides a frame which conditions the art therapy assessment and influences art production. A social and cultural understanding of the art production in the clinic, an interpretation that does not discover signs of pathology in the art work, shows that the art work and its intentionality is jointly produced through negotiations between the child and the therapist. The child is able to use art making to assess the situation and present a propositional self in an iconic form and art production also supports the generation of imaginary situations which enables the child to contest and explore power relations

Chardin's Lesson

In this essay I show how looking at two paintings by Jean-Simeon Chardin (1699-1779) in the National Gallery encouraged me to revisit the experience of providing art therapy for people with learning difficulties. In reflecting on my experiences, both of the paintings and of providing art therapy, I began to develop my thinking in relation to emotion and self-expression.  My reading of art therapy literature, philosophy (Hegel 1977 and Butler 1987 & 1997), semiotics (Jakobson 1960) and neuroscience (Damasio 1999), then gave me the confidence to make a definitive statement in relation to ‘self-expression’.  In presenting my arguments to readers I hope I will have encouraged art therapists to give attention to the cultural and social situation which facilitates the use of art materials to provide transformative experiences and support the development of relationship and self-awareness. Key words: Chardin, Art Therapy, Learning difficulties, emotion and feeling, self-expression. 

Thinking Versus Mentalization

In this discussion paper, aimed at promoting debate within the profession of Art Therapy and Art Psychotherapy, I argue that mentalization provides us with a narrow intellectualist account of mind and represents a poor alternative to thinking. I give examples of how mind might appear in everyday verbal exchanges, and I suggest that attending to the use of words that refer to the mind and thought, would enable us to see how the cultural and social was necessary to our thinking, both in everyday situations, and in the clinical space. I then argue that art therapy in adopting the mentalization construct might distract practitioners from the social, cultural, material and political understanding that enables us to explore and critique clinical practices. Keywords: Mentalize, Thinking, Art Therapy and Art Psychotherapy.

Editorial

This issue of ATOL is given over to the publication of the conference proceedings from the conference ‘Finding Spaces, Making Places – Exploring social and cultural space in contemporary Art Therapy practice’ held at Goldsmiths, University of London 13th April 2016 to 16th April 2016.This conference builds on the previous international conference, ‘Finding a voice, Making your Mark’ held at Goldsmiths in April 2013 [see ATOL 5 (1) 2014], which sought to explore the boundaries of art therapy practice.  The organisers were interested in the differences and commonalities in the practices that are called Art Therapy.  As well as exploring the effects that ideologies had on the core values of the profession, there was also a desire, in the conference, to explore the creation of contexts, spaces and places where clients can be seen and understood, where what is made can be explored

Thinking about children’s art production in assessment settings – developing a more socially oriented hermeneutic

My aim in this brief talk is to open debate on the hermeneutic or interpretative frames that adults use in relation to children’s art production by presenting a small part of a much larger research project concluded in 2011 (Tipple, R. A. 2011). I want to suggest that a hermeneutic that is more socially and culturally orientated might help us in understanding the art production in therapeutic and clinical settings in fresh and helpful ways. As well as helping in appreciating the subjectivity of children who are undergoing assessment, this fresh approach might help us understand our own subjectivity in institutional contexts and how this impacts on the practices we, art therapists, adopt, and the art work that is produced in the presence of the art therapist

Editorial

Following publication of the Conference Proceedings of the International Art Therapy Conference 2013 in the last issue of ATOL (5,1) we now return to our regular content of peer reviewed articles and other items of interest

Open Studio Group

Robin volunteered to run the open studio group because, in part, he felt that in open groups it could easier for members and the conductor to manage anxiety, the situation was less anxiety provoking. He remembered open groups that he had been a part of, in learning disability settings, where the numbers ranged from 15 to 20 clients, depending on the demand that day. There were usually two therapists and a helper. Here clients came and used the space and materials as they felt inclined to do. There was not a lot of pressure to interact with others, other members of the group or the therapists. Many of the clients returned to the same part of the room each day, personalising the space in some way. Anxiety levels were lower in this environment and a culture of respect was inculcated over time, respect in relation to personal space and the work that others produced. Significant exchanges did take place in this group but they were not generated through any overt structures, rather they represented spontaneous communications, sharing of work, thought, emotions, and wishes. Robin wanted something like this in the conference, but without the territorial element, a space where individuals could access a range of art materials and work quietly, or sit quietly as they wished. Interaction, sharing and exchanges with others would be, of course, permitted but there would be no obligation in this respect

Editorial

In this issue we are able to publish five research papers. I am happy to report that we can continue with explorations present in our last publication. We are able to show how research, which here, includes the experimental and case study research, that attends to the image, the objects present in art therapy, the non-verbal communication and the thinking that the processes of making facilitates in the setting, can move our understanding forward in fruitful and stimulating ways.  The final research paper explores the image of art therapy itself and makes use of the internet and social media sites.