Romeo Doron Alaeff


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Romeo Alaeff: "War on the Brain"


ROMEO DORON ALAEFF: WAR ON THE BRAIN
(Download project info PDF)

In a traditional Rorschach Test, the mental image projected onto an "neutral" ink-blot is supposed to reveal to a therapist something hitherto obscured from the patient—theoretically, an invisible and unresolved conflict in the heart, mind or soul. These subverted Rorschachs, however, are not meant to be neutral; hidden within them are images of historical conflicts, "universal" symbols, and premeditated noise. The ink-blot is a mirror image--the left and right sides are identical twins, diametrically opposed. In the abstract, this mirroring creates a beautiful, but supposedly "meaningless" symmetrical pattern—one that, by definition, can only assume a meaning that is projected from the viewer's inner world. The work exploits the assumption that there is such thing as a meaningless, unbiased image and, conversely, explores the problems formed by a biased one: a man with a gun, by way of example, when mirrored, finds himself in a perpetual life-or-death standoff with his alter ego-turned nemesis.

Depending on the viewer's personal and cultural biases (created by innumerable tangible and intangible influences in the world and in the media), the viewer is predisposed to "finding" certain images and symbols which become immediately "obvious," while other images remain temporarily or permanently camouflaged. The overall impression seems to simply be a product of the viewer's discovery of an external reality—one that is located in the work. The work however, operates at the intersection between what is actually there and what the viewer projects on to it. By necessity, the mind, in this liminal zone, participates in the act of creation--what is "seen" in the Rorschachs has as much to do with the viewer's partiality as it has to do with the artist's intention. Paralleling the human predicament, the ostensible "reality" of these impressions, once in the mind's eye, are impossible to disregard and form seemingly indisputable prejudices--prejudices that often lead to an internal and/or external conflict when threatened by contradiction, paradox, or an opposing view.

Focusing on these dialectics, the project is a meditation on the nature of harmony and conflict, within the self and within the world—but, most importantly, it is about the relationship between the two. In addition, the project is an investigation of "neutrality" and "bias" in the fabrication of one's worldview, as well as a critique of the Rorschach test itself (or any test) as a means to gain impartial insights into these unknowns.

"What justification is there for assuming that any given interpretation of an ink-blot does not issue from a part of the self bent on deceiving others, or on deceiving oneself for that matter?" --Skeptic's Dictionary