Martha Gogakou, Angelos Floros

Presented: DCAC, Hybrid - Corfu/Online, May 13-14, 2022, link

Abstract

This presentation examines the theoretical and technical research underlying an original artwork, first presented as the author's MA thesis at the Ionian University and the starting point of the doctoral research she completed there in 2026.

The work establishes a research framework for analysing artworks that employ randomness as artistic practice, investigating when the collective unconscious — as described by Carl Gustav Jung — surfaces during creative processes characterised as spontaneous, uncontrolled and undirected. The research integrates randomness with the spontaneous psychic products that emerge during creation.

Two questions are at its core: whether randomness represents a truly random occurrence or a vital yet overlooked creative component, and how artists can harness unconscious processes as creative tools.

The methodology examines the theoretical foundations in Jung's Man and His Symbols, and analyses the audiovisual work Dharmadhatu, which explores flowing colours on moving surfaces to generate abstract audiovisual narratives. The research identifies Jungian symbolic forms within the work's linear structure, and examines the universal archetypal elements that appear across mythologies and primitive narratives.

The results aim to contribute new perspectives on randomness within creative and theoretical contexts, supporting practice-based research in the creation of original artwork.