I/We Art

I/We art was developed in part from the work of Sabina Spielrein’s, (1912) “Destruction as the Cause of Coming into Being”. It is a kind of metophoric use of Sabina's "I" which is our conscious self and the "We" a kind of nothingness, an undifferentiated space which lies deep within the "I". The "We" is in contradiction with the "I" and seeks to destroy the "I" but in doing so turns us into social beings. It does this by creating symbols or imagery that can be exchanged. The transformation is from something that only the individual can experience or express into a universal imagery which forms the basis of intersubjectivity and a kind of collective consciousness. ( To explore Spielrein’s work further please see Julie Reshe's extensive collection of works on this subject.)

Using this framework but metaphorically in relation to the natural versus social world the "I" is the natural world and is seen as representational, the actual object and the "We" the social world which is the abstract, the symbolised object. The "I" and the "We" are in opposition or contradiction reflecting, (even with the substantial effort at sustainability) the ever-growing clash between the needs of the social and natural world. The work also anticipates the future as the “We” has been generated by artificial intelligence (Ai). The "I" is based on images I created. This process of creating images is consistent with the overall aim of the work which is to highlight layers of contradiction in our life-world.