Background / overview

This blog is about an art project I carried out in 2010-2011. I did quite a bit of work for it, both in terms of research and the project itself, but it remains unfinished. It's about the Blacky test, a psychological test from the 1950's which was based around Freudian concepts (the id, ego, sibling rivalry etc). I was interested in exploring the relationship between an image and  interpretation, and also interested in the possibilities and meaning of psychological testing.  I was particularly interested in the mechanics of testing, particularly tests using visual and/or three-dimensional material to elicit responses (as far as I know the bulk of testing instruments in psychology are verbal / textual).

Different sections here explain a bit more about:

the mechanics of my project

the images made by participants

background information on the test and other projective tests

In the early stages of research for this piece I visited the Science Museum in London to look at their collection of projective tests. (Many thanks to Dr Phil Loring from the Museum).