This is an invitation for artists and writers, creators of any medium, to participate in a group exercise.
The Amplification Effect, a group exercise performed in the comments.
A symbol is provided, and participants are asked to share at least twice to generate an amplification of that symbol.
Regarding the value of amplification of symbolic content, CG Jung writes:
“An archetypal content expresses itself, first and foremost, in metaphors. If such a content should speak of the sun and identify with it the lion, the king, the hoard of gold guarded by the dragon, or the power that makes for the life and health of man, it is neither the one thing nor the other, but the unknown third thing that finds more or less adequate expression in all these similes, yet– to the perpetual vexation of the intellect– remains unknown and not to be fitted into a formula.”
Jung, CW, V. 9i, p. 267
Jung also championed approaching unconscious symbolic material with an ‘as-if’ attitude. Jung taught that meaning may be circumscribed, but not described.
The Process
1. Participants self-select.
2. Responses are placed in the comments to this post.
3. Each participant replies with an amplification of the symbol.
4. Each participant replies with an association to another participant’s amplification.
5. Participants are encouraged to repeat steps 3 and 4 as often as they wish.
6. Participants are encouraged to reflect on the group results of the exercise to provide an impetus for future creative work.
Postscript: Consider linking back to this post with any work this exercise generates. Links from this post to any work generated will be shared below.
(For further information, as well as an example of a completed group response mind map, see the inaugural Amplification Effect)
Week #2 Amplification Effect Symbol:
A sign reading Mind the Gap.
Join us in the comments below!
Group Response Mind Map (updated throughout the exercise):
A sign reading Mind the Gap
Links to Works Generated:
Couples Therapy, by Tanmay Philip at Blog inVERSE
To get things rolling, I’ve been pondering the two hemispheres of the brain, and the gap that runs between them:
A fissure or groove that separates the two hemispheres is called the great longitudinal fissure. The two sides of the brain are joined at the bottom by the corpus callosum. The corpus callosum connects the two halves of the brain and delivers messages from one half of the brain to the other.
Battle of Stamford Bridge(amplification)
And grey matter as a relation to the brain’s longitudinal fissure.
The Battle of Stamford Bridge took place at the village of Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, in England, on 25 September 1066, between an English army under King Harold Godwinson and an invading Norwegian force led by King Harald Hardrada and the English king’s brother Tostig Godwinson.
The Bridge over the River Kwai
The British Raj
Spacing Effect – rehearsing something over time gives the hippocampus more time to consolidate the learning and you’ll remember more over time
The Gorge Bridge at Taos over the Rio Grande.
In a different direction, I was pondering communication breakdowns in any relationship, and how couples therapy is an attempt to acknowledge and tend to the fissure.
my thought was in somewhat the same direction, my amplification was pauses in conversation
Deep listening, or awkward disclosures… (both fit)
date night – to bridge the gaps
Let’s add the obvious: Danger boarding a subway, train, or boat.
This activity inspired me.
https://slipstreamswimming.wordpress.com/2022/12/11/couples-therapy/
Awesome, adding a link above!
Thank you kindly 😊
Bodily gaps: cleft palate, deviated septum, buck teeth, hang nails, etc.
Gaps in consciousness: dreamless sleep; cessations of awareness “opening” gaps in self conception… and, so, the creative potential of–“void.”
Super! “The stutter is the thing!”
…also, what is known as a bkackout.