2012 - Cara Mason

6.12.12

DBT in BPD (mediated painting, 21.5”x24”, 2012) is a series consisting of three different mediums of work; oil painting, video, and glass etching. The individual pieces work both independently, as well as as a whole. By using three separate works to create a single piece I am exploring how one piece can effect and manipulate another.

After being misdiagnosed with Major Depression and Anxiety Disorder for 6 years I learned that I had been destroying my mental state with anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medication that I had been prescribed for conditions I did not actually have. I was correctly diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder and started getting treatment in the form of Dialectical Behavioral Therapy. This process involves having to accept that many of my past actions and memories were events that were not under my control, and rather an effect of improper medication, and an undiagnosed illness. The work references self-reflection and gestures of inward thought and experience. The layering of works further represents the feeling of slippage and the confusion often involved in dealing with mental health issues. The feeling of anxiety versus calmness and the struggle I often have in balancing the two is an important theme in this work.

The painting is a larger than life self-portrait that works to create an intimate understanding of an emotional, scientific, and mental experience that cannot be seen by the eye. The close-up image of a face with closed eyes suggests a sense of looking inward, self-reflection, and specifically DBT’s basis for treatment; mindfulness.

The video is a minute long shot of my face, close up and projected onto the painted representation of my face, existing at the same scale as the video. The video depicts my eyes opening and closing, while the painting depicts them as closed By projecting moving video onto a nearly identical still painting, I work to give a painting movement, and a video stillness. The two play back and forth with each other, sometimes lining up, sometimes creating a glow, and others revealing it to be completely different like when the videos eyes are open. This experience creates a dynamic third space by bringing together two forms of representation which blur and transform each other’s spatial and material boundaries.

Placed between the projection and the painting is a piece of plexiglass etched with a dodecahedron and an icosahedron. These two platonic solids are dual pairs and can be constructed by connecting the centers of adjacent faces. When the video is projected through the glass it casts the shadow of the platonic solids onto the painting, disrupting the video as well as the painting. This gesture suggests that there is something mechanical at play, and reinforces the lines of the video and painting.

The combination of these three pieces tell a story, and allow the viewer a synthesized understanding of an otherwise inward and personal experience.

29.11.12

1+1+1

21.11.12

Test Projection Through Etched Plexiglass

26.10.12

Notes from the Crit

26.10.12

Option 3

26.10.12

Option 2

26.10.12

Test for Projection

26.10.12

Learning to do Video

26.10.12

Inspired by Old Work

29.9.12

Online Feedback via Facebook & Twitter

29.9.12

Online Feedback via Instagram

29.9.12

Am I Darth Vader?

From LiveScience.com

Anakin Skywalker's eventual transformation into Darth Vader might have more to do with psychological issues than the Force, researchers hint.

The tragic hero of the "Star Wars" prequels displays patterns of instability and impulsivity in the second and third films that make him an obvious candidate for borderline personality disorder (BPD), according to French psychiatrists and psychologists.

The researchers also suspect the traits exhibited by Skywalker might make him more appealing and relatable to teen fans, given that teens may also display certain characteristics of borderline personality disorder.

"I had watched the two prequel movies ["Attack of the Clones" and "Revenge of the Sith"], and it was during my residency in psychiatry while trying to explain borderline personality disorder to medical students that I thought of Anakin," said Eric Bui, a psychiatrist at Toulouse University Hospital in France.

Bui and his colleagues first presented their diagnosis at the annual convention of the American Psychiatric Association in 2007. Now, their letter to the editor titled "Is Anakin Skywalker suffering from borderline personality disorder?" is slated to appear in an upcoming issue of the journal Psychiatry Research.

Skywalker hit six out of the nine borderline personality disorder criteria as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV). He only needed to meet five criteria to qualify as suffering from the disorder.

A great disturbance in the Force

For instance, the future Darth Vader showed both impulsivity and anger management issues as an overexcited, lovelorn Jedi. He went back and forth between idealizing and devaluing Jedi mentors, such as a humorless young Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Abandonment issues also surfaced. Skywalker had a permanent fear of losing his wife, Padme Amidala, and he went so far as to betray his Jedi mentors and companions to try to prevent her death.

Two displays of dissociative episodes took place when Skywalker tried to distance himself from stressful events. The first episode took place after he slaughtered a local tribe of Tuskens responsible for his mother's death. A second episode occurred following his murderous rampage among young Jedi trainees, as he voiced paranoid thoughts about Obi-Wan Kenobi and his wife.

Lastly, any "Star Wars" fan would recognize Skywalker's identity issues and uncertainty about who he was. His fateful turn to the dark side and change of name to Darth Vader could represent the ultimate sign of such identity disturbance, the researchers said.

The future Darth Vader would also still qualify as a "borderline type" under the revised guidelines of the DSM-V, which will serve as the new bible for psychiatry.

"From what we know of the future DSM-V, Anakin is a "good" to "very good" match to the future BPD," Bui told LiveScience.

Searching for balance

Skywalker's case of borderline personality disorder has proven useful for both Bui and Rachel Rodgers, a researcher at the Center for Studies and Research in Applied Psychology in France. They have used the "Star Wars" example to teach their students for the past few years, and noted that such a famous fictional example could spread awareness.

The researchers also suggested that the success of the "Star Wars" prequel films might partially rely upon how teens can relate to the troubled Anakin Skywalker. Only adults can be diagnosed with to borderline personality disorder under the current DSM-IV guidelines, but Bui and Rodgers pointed to several studies that suggest the disorder is fairly frequent among teens.

Either way, the situation in the "Star Wars" prequels seems clear to Bui. He pointed out that the emperor's dark and destabilizing influence upon a young Skywalker might have even exacerbated the symptoms of borderline personality disorder.

But like any good doctor, Bui also has a treatment recommendation.

"I believe that psychotherapy would have helped Anakin and might have prevented him from turning to the dark side," Bui said. "Using the dark side of the Force could be considered assimilar to drug use: It feels really good when you use it, it alters your consciousness and you know you shouldn’t do it."

29.9.12

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is a system of therapy originally developed by Marsha M. Linehan, a psychology researcher at the University of Washington, to treat people with borderline personality disorder (BPD).^[1]^[2] DBT combines standard cognitive-behavioral techniques for emotion regulation and reality-testing with concepts of distress tolerance, acceptance, and mindful awareness largely derived from Buddhist meditative practice. DBT may be the first therapy that has been experimentally demonstrated to be generally effective in treating BPD.^[3]^[4] A meta-analysis found that DBT reached moderate effects.^[5] Research indicates that DBT is also effective in treating patients who present varied symptoms and behaviors associated with spectrum mood disorders, including self-injury.^[6] Recent work suggests its effectiveness with sexual abuse survivors^[7] and chemical dependency.^[8]

Mindfulness

Further information: mindfulness (psychology)

"What" skills

Mindfulness is one of the core concepts behind all elements of DBT. It is considered a foundation for the other skills taught in DBT, because it helps individuals accept and tolerate the powerful emotions they may feel when challenging their habits or exposing themselves to upsetting situations. The concept of mindfulness and the meditative exercises used to teach it are derived from traditional Buddhist practice, though the version taught in DBT does not involve any religious or metaphysical concepts. Within DBT it is the capacity to pay attention, non-judgmentally, to the present moment; about living in the moment, experiencing one's emotions and senses fully, yet with perspective.

Observe: This is used to non-judgmentally observe one’s environment within or outside oneself. It is helpful in understanding what is going on in any given situation.

Describe: This is used to express what one has observed with the observe skill. It is to be used without judgmental statements. This helps with letting others know what you have observed.

Participate

"How" skills

This is used to become fully involved in the activity that one is doing. To be able to fully focus on what one is doing.

Non-judgmentally: This is the action of describing the facts, and not thinking about what’s “good” or “bad”, “fair”, or “unfair.” These are judgments because this is how you feel about the situation but isn’t a factual description. Being non-judgmental helps to get your point across in an effective manner without adding a judgment that someone else might disagree with.

One-mindfully: This is used to focus on one thing. One-mindfully is helpful in keeping your mind from straying into emotion mind by a lack of focus.

Effectively: This is simply doing what works. It is a very broad-ranged skill and can be applied to any other skill to aid in being successful with said skill.^[9

29.9.12

Borderline Personality Disorder

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) (according to the ICD-10 World Health Organization disease classification, emotionally unstable personality disorder, borderline type) is a personality disorder marked by a prolonged disturbance of personality function, characterized by unusual variability and depth of moods. These moods may secondarily affect cognition and interpersonal relations.^{[n 1]}

The disorder typically involves an unusual degree of instability in mood and black-and-white thinking, or splitting. BPD often manifests itself in idealization and devaluation episodes and chaotic and unstable interpersonal relationships, issues with self-image, identity, and behavior; as well as a disturbance in the individual's sense of self. In extreme cases, this disturbance in the sense of self can lead to periods ofdissociation.^[1] It is only recognized by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) in individuals over the age of 18; however, symptoms necessary to establish the disorder can also be found in adolescents.

Splitting in BPD includes a switch between idealizing and demonizing others (absolute good/love vs absolute evil/hate with no "grey area"). This, combined with mood disturbances, can undermine relationships with family, friends, and co-workers. BPD disturbances may also include harm to oneself.^[2] Without treatment, symptoms may worsen, leading (in extreme cases) to suicide attempts.^{[n 2]}

There is an ongoing debate among clinicians and patients worldwide about terminology and the use of the word borderline,^[3] and some have suggested that this disorder should be renamed.^[4] The ICD-10 manual has an alternative definition and terminology to this disorder, calledEmotionally unstable personality disorder. There is related concern that the diagnosis of BPD stigmatizes people and supports discriminatory practices.^[5]

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders fourth edition (DSM-IV-TR), a widely used manual for diagnosing mental disorders, defines borderline personality disorder (in Axis II Cluster B) as:^[1]^[15]

A pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image and affects, as well as marked impulsivity, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:

Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment. Note: Do not include suicidal or self-injuring behavior covered in Criterion 5
A pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation.
Identity disturbance: markedly and persistently unstable self-image or sense of self.
Impulsivity in at least two areas that are potentially self-damaging (e.g., promiscuous sex, excessive spending, eating disorders, binge eating, substance abuse, reckless driving). Note: Do not include suicidal or self-injuring behavior covered in Criterion 5
Recurrent suicidal behavior, gestures, threats or self-injuring behavior such as cutting, interfering with the healing of scars or picking at oneself (excoriation).
Affective instability due to a marked reactivity of mood (e.g., intense episodic dysphoria, irritability or anxiety usually lasting a few hours and only rarely more than a few days).
Chronic feelings of emptiness
Inappropriate anger or difficulty controlling anger (e.g., frequent displays of temper, constant anger, recurrent physical fights).
Transient, stress-related paranoid ideation, delusions or severe dissociative symptoms

29.9.12

Geometric Shapes

Dual polyhedra

Every polyhedron has a dual (or "polar") polyhedron with faces and vertices interchanged. The dual of every Platonic solid is another Platonic solid, so that we can arrange the five solids into dual pairs.

The tetrahedron is self-dual (i.e. its dual is another tetrahedron).
The cube and the octahedron form a dual pair.
The dodecahedron and the icosahedron form a dual pair.

If a polyhedron has Schläfli symbol {p, q}, then its dual has the symbol {q, p}. Indeed every combinatorial property of one Platonic solid can be interpreted as another combinatorial property of the dual.

One can construct the dual polyhedron by taking the vertices of the dual to be the centers of the faces of the original figure. The edges of the dual are formed by connecting the centers of adjacent faces in the original. In this way, the number of faces and vertices is interchanged, while the number of edges stays the same.

More generally, one can dualize a Platonic solid with respect to a sphere of radius d concentric with the solid. The radii (R, ρ, r) of a solid and those of its dual (R*, ρ*, r*) are related by

$d^2 = R^\ast r = r^\ast R = \rho^\ast\rho.$

It is often convenient to dualize with respect to the midsphere (d = ρ) since it has the same relationship to both polyhedra. Taking d² = Rr gives a dual solid with the same circumradius and inradius (i.e. R* = R and r* = r).

Many viruses have the shape of a regular icosahedron. Viral structures are built of repeated identical protein subunits and the icosahedron is the easiest shape to assemble using these subunits. A regular polyhedron is used because it can be built from a single basic unit protein used over and over again; this saves space in the viral genome.

The Platonic solids feature prominently in the philosophy of Plato for whom they are named. Plato wrote about them in the dialogueTimaeus c.360 B.C. in which he associated each of the four classical elements (earth, air, water, and fire) with a regular solid. Earth was associated with the cube, air with the octahedron, water with the icosahedron, and fire with the tetrahedron. There was intuitive justification for these associations: the heat of fire feels sharp and stabbing (like little tetrahedra). Air is made of the octahedron; its minuscule components are so smooth that one can barely feel it. Water, the icosahedron, flows out of one's hand when picked up, as if it is made of tiny little balls. By contrast, a highly un-spherical solid, the hexahedron (cube) represents earth. These clumsy little solids cause dirt to crumble and break when picked up, in stark difference to the smooth flow of water. Moreover, the solidity of the Earth was believed to be due to the fact that the cube is the only regular solid that tesselates Euclidean space. The fifth Platonic solid, the dodecahedron, Plato obscurely remarks, "...the god used for arranging the constellations on the whole heaven". Aristotle added a fifth element, aithêr (aether in Latin, "ether" in English) and postulated that the heavens were made of this element, but he had no interest in matching it with Plato's fifth solid.

Cincopa Gallery

Blog Archive

Photography

Paintings

Notes From My Final Crit

Laser Cutting

Artist Statement

1+1+1

Test Projection Through Etched Plexiglass

Notes from the Crit

Option 3

Option 2

Test for Projection

Learning to do Video

Inspired by Old Work

Online Feedback via Facebook & Twitter

Online Feedback via Instagram

Am I Darth Vader?

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy

Mindfulness

Borderline Personality Disorder

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual

Geometric Shapes

Dual polyhedra

Flickr Images