Shifting Frames: Reflections on filmmaking and the unconscious in the art practice of an art therapist

Abstract

This article looks at a series of nine video films the author made over a six-year period. The context in which they were produced is explained but while the context is important the author sees the films primarily as a coherent body of work within his art practice. Consideration is given to how the art practice of this art therapist might be framed. The aim of the article is to think about the ways in which meaning is made in the films. I make use of a critical visual methodology (Rose, 2001) and draw upon film theory to consider the impact of unconscious processes in the construction of meaning.

Keywords: digital media, the unconscious, art practice, visual methodology, film theory, psychoanalysis, art therapist.