Study Task 4 - Introduction/Summary

So far from this project I have discovered why clowns tend to scare people. ‘The Psychology of the Uncanny’ – Ernst Jentsch (1906) analyses how the use of masks can often make people feel uncomfortable as the person underneath cannot be recognised which is similar with a clown’s makeup. He also focuses on automaton objects (such as dolls) that sometimes move and how this can cause a feeling of uncanniness because the object is lifeless but almost human. Marashiro Mori largely focuses on automaton objects (especially robotics and prosthetic limbs) which appear to be uncanny when they closely relate to that of the human form. Sigmund Freud’s ‘The Uncanny’ is another text which I have studied as he analyses and modernises Ernst Jentsch text, making the idea of the uncanny a lot clearer. I have not yet chosen the images I will be using in my text although I have a large amount that needs to be narrowed down for triangulation. I intend on focusing on Stephen King’s IT, John Wayne Gacy and Bruce Nauman’s ‘Clown Torture’ which are all pieces of work that are intentionally made to cause discomfort to the audience. However, I want to look into more artist’s work to relate it as closely as possible to illustration and my own practice.