For this Unit, Individual, our class learned about psychological, intellectual, and emotional tests that help us think about ourselves and evaluate the different ways we think. I really enjoyed learning about the depths of the psychological parts of ourselves and others. The tests our class took helped us analyze our personalities and understand things about ourselves that we never would've looked in to otherwise. I really enjoyed the equal amount of math, science, and art that went into this project and unit overall. For our action project, my class was assigned to interview an artist we know and create a piece that represented ourselves. I thought it was really interesting that we got the chance to create an art piece for a STEAM course, and that it incorporated a good amount of fun throughout the project. This has been one of my favorite APs so far in all my courses, and I think that I did a decent job of presenting my personality in my art piece.
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| SC. Piece of Me. 2017. |
During this unit, our class was assigned to find and take multiple different personality tests; this helped me understand a lot more about myself, and eventually helped me connect myself to my piece. One of our first tests, Myers Briggs, measures different psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions. There are 16 different results that the Myers Briggs test can give; all have unique personality types. After I took the test, I learned that I am an ISTJ, which is also known as a logistician. The first letter, I, stands for introverted, and it’s probably what I agree with most about the test. My results show that, I’m mostly secluded and an individual, which is what I tried my best to reflect in my drawing. “People with the ISTJ personality type often prefer to work alone, or at least have their authority clearly established by hierarchy, where they can set and achieve their goals without debate or worry over other’s reliability.” My results for this test had the biggest impact in the fashion I decided to create my drawing in. Another psychological test assigned to us that helped me create my drawing was the Enneagram. The test has nine different personality results. After taking an online version of the Enneagram test, I discovered that I am a five with a sixth wing. Fives are known as investigators, because they tend to withdraw themselves and are more observant. In most cases, they “feel comfortable and at home in the realm of thought. They are generally intelligent, well read and thoughtful and they frequently become experts in the areas that capture their interest.” The approach that I took for my piece was that I wanted to show my inner self through the different dimensions of the drawing. I tried representing my personal traits and qualities in an abstract form. Both of these tests were crucial in figuring out what characteristics I want represented in my drawing, and now I have a lot understanding and awareness of myself.
Aside from psychological tests, our class was also assigned to study different experiments and case studies that showed aspects of other people’s behavior. The first test we studied was called the marshmallow test. It’s a fairly simple experiment that requires the participant(s) to sit in front of a marshmallow for a relatively long period of time without eating it. If they can resist and successfully control themselves from eating the marshmallow, they will be rewarded with two instead of just one. In class, our teacher gave us a similar version with candy bars instead of marshmallows, and although I was hungry, I easily passed the test. The result of this tells me that I’m able to be patient, and have a tolerant mindset when needed. A second experiment that helped me create my drawing was the Stanford Prison Experiment. In this experiment, a simulated prison was created with students from Stanford participating as prisoners or guards. This experiment helped me show the many different emotions that I have.
One psychologist that I did some research on before drawing my piece was Erik Erikson. Erikson was famous for helping create the foundation of knowledge around human development and the stages the mind go through throughout one’s lifespan. His research really interested me in how they brain works, and the stage of life that I’m currently going through; I tried to reflect this in my piece. Another well known psychologist that I was assigned to do research on was named Jean Piaget. Piaget’s research mostly consisted of child’s intellectual development and understanding what was unknown about genetic psychology. Piaget developed many different theories about the human brain, and the processes that it went through. I wanted to reflect in my piece that I’m going through the stage of adolescence, which is mainly focused around being oneself. For this project, I interviewed a graphic designer and artist, Ellen Senrich. During the interview, we talked about what makes an artist great, and the thought process she goes through when creating her art. I asked what she thinks makes a great artist, and she responded with: “I’d say you have to passionate and open-minded. You really have to want to do a good job and care about your designs. Making your work not a chore, because it’s supposed to be something that you enjoy doing.” It was interesting hearing what Senrich had to say about art and designing, and the interview helped me realize a few different aspects of creating art that helped me create my piece.
My thought process for creating my piece was pretty simple: I sat down and thought about what I think best represents me. I took a deep breath and started drawing some simple sketches, I didn’t particularly want my face, as most self portraits do, but I wanted to create a part of me and in an abstract way. My first draft was just a few straight lines drawn on a plain piece of printer paper. I liked the idea that I had in my head, though. When I showed my revised draft to a friend of mine, he recommended I add some color. I agreed that having just black and white seemed too gloomy, so I colored it in completely. The color I chose to fill in my hand was navy; dark blue is my favorite color, and I wanted it to represent my individuality in my piece. After adding color, I showed my revisions to my interviewee and good family friend, Ellen Senrich. She said it was a great drawing, but needed some type of trademark to give it a signature. I decided to tear off the sides of the paper to give it a sort of “edgy” feel (no pun intended). Overall, my piece is meant to be a visual representation of my life and story.
Works Cited:
"Erik Erikson." Psychology History. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2017. <http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/erikson.htm>.
"The 16 MBTI® Types." The Myers & Briggs Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2017. <http://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/the-16-mbti-types.htm>.
"How The System Works." The Enneagram Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2017. <https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/how-the-enneagram-system-works/>
"Jean Piaget." Biography.com. A&E Networks Television, 19 Feb. 2016. Web. 20 Jan. 2017. <http://www.biography.com/people/jean-piaget-9439915>.
"Type Five." The Enneagram Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2017. <https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/type-5/>.
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