#25: Reluctance To Pull The Trigger

After a long time spent experimenting with different ideas for a new format for the archetypes its been starting to feel like I should pick a format to try out in a test, like its time to pull the trigger. Luckily I have found a format for the archetypes that I am excited about.

The archetype cards that I have made for The Library of Meaning serve the project well as an introduction to the symbols the participant is playing with, but they are quite 2d and cerebral. By which I mean that the process involves a lot of reading and thinking about ideas, I would like to make it more of an immersive experience. The participant should feel like they are crossing the threshold into another world, like Campbell’s Hero With A Thousand Faces, they are going on a perilous journey to recover the valuable treasure of self awareness.

I started by experimenting with a simple paper cut out scene of The Mother archetype, I placed it inside a ‘tunnel book’ – a paper scene that packs flat but can elongate, giving the scene depth.
I liked the way that the image which started as a 2d print has now developed into more of a 3d space, it gives the feeling that the archetype is coming to life. This was also highlighted by the way that the scene moves towards the viewier as it expands, giving the image a feeling of breath. It gave the effect that the archetype was reaching out towards you, as if you may fall forward like Alice In Wonderland, into a corridor that was populated by mythic symbols. There was also something reminiscent of saints, how each one has their own little frame in a window of the church and is surrounded by symbolic imagery that tells a story about their life.

I developed the idea, made the tunnel books larger and built three arch shaped doorways on to the structure to house three archetypes at a time. This would allow the participant to go on a very simple journey with their story, by choosing three archetypes that could act as a beginning, middle and end, or perhaps ‘Past, present and future’. I then had a go at mocking up three prototypes.

As I made the images there seemed to be a world emerging within the frames that was populated by the archetypes, they each have a similar landscape in the background and the moon or sun always visible somewhere above. I was very excited about this, I have always wanted to build my own world.

I enjoyed the effect of exploring the image with a little led light, the shadows cast from the images in the foreground on to to figures on the back revealed hidden meanings for the archetype. I also added space for a lamp behind each frame, giving the option of illuminating the whole image.

This use of light feels very important in the experience, it is innately spiritual and healing, which is of course why stained glass is an important part of the ritual of the church. I was reminded of one of my favourite lines of poetry/song from Leonard Cohen; “There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.”

I thought the experience could be deepened further by including a small audio snippet of a story/poem about the archetype. The participant could listen on headphones to an emotive narrative as they explored the images. The audio would then guide them in a few brief tasks that prompted them to write down what the archetype means for them.

I also added doors to each frame. I felt that the action of opening and closing doors added a layer of meaning to the experience and deepened the sense of ritual. After I made them I was reminded of the similarity to the butsudan in my parents living room when I was growing up. This was the cupboard that held the gohonzon (sacred scroll) on the buddhist shrine at which we would chant during our practise. I remembered the reverence with which the object was treated, it had its own little room which was opened and closed with great respect. I realised I had been hoping to create the same atmosphere for my participants when they interacted with the archetypes.

So I made a selection of about 20 archetypes that felt most important and I decided to make a tunnel book and story/poem for each one. Over the last couple of weeks I have made 23 blank books, next I need to design and build an archetype into each one as well as write and record 20 story/poems to go with them.

Doubt

However, after recent reflection and chats with my tutor, I suddenly feel a bit reluctant to go any further with this mountain of work I have set myself. I am beginning to feel like I might be at risk of running towards an imagined solution or goal and putting too much time and work into building something when I should be testing as I go. There is a risk that I will put so much effort into the solution that I will be biased towards its success and I won’t be able to properly test its efficacy

Last week I was offered an opportunity to attend another activity day for men’s mental health organised by Mind, the mental health charity in Hastings. They asked if I would bring The Library of Meaning. Trouble is that the event is in two weeks time. My first reaction was that I couldn’t attend because I was too busy working on my next intervention.

But I suddenly realised that I would be foolish to throw away this opportunity to test my ideas with potential stakeholders right now in favour of spending time making things to use in the future, it was the very definition of the mistake I have been afraid of making.

So I’ve decided to attend the event in Hastings in two weeks, but I am not currently 100% sure what I will be doing. It will be interesting to hold an intervention now that I have a different research question guiding me and I could also use it to test out a basic version of the booth concept. I would like to experiment with some more ways to gather feedback from the participants about how they use the archetypes and gather some useable data on measuring any change they experience. I also need to incorporate a system to measure my own impressions and reflections on the process in order to avoid any biases and effectively analyse the results for the next cycle of iteration. I will put together a plan for the intervention over the next few days.

So for now I think I will abandon the tunnel books idea and focus on how to make the most of the opportunity to hold an an effective intervention in Hastings. It feels a bit strange to put down this idea when I have already invested so much time and work into it, it certainly goes against the patterns of creative behaviour I have relied on in the past. But it seems important to be aware of what I am doing, of the paths I am charging down, and make corrections to the course as I go. Feels like progress.

It makes me realise that although I haven’t been testing my work with stakeholders, these past two months I have been experimenting with a series of micro interventions with myself. I have been going against my usual creative instincts to try and imagine a solution to the problem then make it, instead I have been testing each idea with myself, asking myself what works, exploring different solutions, unafraid to fail and let go of my darling ideas when they came to naught. So it seems somehow appropriate to abandon this idea at the moment. It may come back into play somehow, but right now I think I should extract my head from the rabbit hole I’ve been travelling down and get really clear with myself on what I am doing, along with why and how I am doing it.