During this unit, we learned about psychology and took a variety of personality tests. One test that stood out to me was the Myers-Briggs test because I got results that aligned with how I view myself.This test gave numerous scenarios that you would have to disagree, agree with or choose somewhere in the middle. For this Action Project, we had to create a self-portrait using all the psychology knowledge that we’ve learned over the past few weeks and create an artist statement explaining your piece. Below are my art piece and artist statement. I hope you enjoy!
A Person With and From Within, LD, 2017, Collage
My art piece, A Person With and From Within is a character that portrays LD, this character shows the traits that I have within myself as well as traits I don’t identify with. To create this piece, I used a 14 by 14 piece of fabric that is layered upon more fabric to create the character. Before creating my piece, I sketched out what I wanted my art piece to look like after I gathered a variety of different materials and followed my sketch as to what I wanted the character to look like. In the outside world, I am viewed as extroverted, a natural leader, spontaneous and adaptable. I have taken a few personality tests during the past month; one test whose results surprised me was the DiSC test. The results stated that I am Dominant and Cautious meaning I am decisive, driven, logical and analytical. While some of this might be true, I don’t view myself decisive at all. To highlight my indecisiveness in this piece, I decide to use different materials to create the character to symbolize that I find it hard to stick to one thing. Another test that shocked me was the True Color Test. I found out that I was best described as the orange color because I am good at making decisions, a natural leader and can dominate a situation. What is strange about these results is that I disagree with all of them; I view myself as a follower and have always hated the fact that I couldn’t make my own decisions. To incorporate this into my piece, I decided to I use fabric instead of paint or markers to symbolize that I feel as if I have to display different personalities.
When people view my piece, I want them to understand that we humans possess a variety of personalities but it doesn’t mean we are not being authentic or true to ourselves just because we acknowledge one and ignore the other in situations. There are also test that dictate how you will do in an outside environment such as the TKI test and the Myers-Briggs test. The TKI Conflict Mode Instrument test measures the different degrees of assertiveness and cooperativeness. This test is often used to see how one might solve issues in the job field. My results came in as Competing, meaning that I express above average assertiveness and below average cooperation and that people I work with tend to think that I like to have things my way. I think I am Avoiding because I don’t involve myself in conflicts at all, but when I do I do tend to like to have my things a certain way, I can see both sides of an argument and reflect on my own opinion. I view myself as being the exact opposite of assertive; I am passive and will not involve myself in any conflictions. I found a trend when taking these test that I am a dominant or assertive.I decided to incorporate that trait in my piece because although I might not view myself as this, there might be a part of me that are these traits. The dramatic features such as the lips, nose, eyes, and eyebrows symbolize my dominant personality traits like being assertive.
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is a test that measures psychological preferences in how individuals perceive, interact and make decisions. There are 16 different types of personalities that the Myers-Briggs test presents. I got ENTP meaning I am more extroverted and get more energy from being with others, I am more intuitive meaning I act on things instead of observing. I think more about my decision than act on my feelings. I feel like this is the most accurate depiction of how I view myself. To incorporate these results into my piece, I decided to make the pupils tiny to represent that I don’t observe as much as I act.
The Senior class went to the Museum of Contemporary Art to look at the art as well as the artist’s statements. During my time there, I found a few artist’s statements that had lots of detail and a deep understanding of the purpose of their piece. I also saw a few that left me a bit confused; they lacked context or purpose. I took inspiration from an artist named Siobhan Hapaska by giving lots of detail and explanation about my piece in my artist statement.This process was a bit long because I had to make each piece look like a facial feature. Overall, creating the piece was extremely fun for me because I like to make art. I really enjoyed this Action Project, I enjoyed creating my art piece by cutting different fabrics up and gluing it onto the page because I don’t have time to create art as much as I used to. If I were to do this project again, I would incorporate more elements to my art piece. I felt as if I didn’t have enough time to make it exactly how I wanted it to look, but it looks similar to what I had in mind.
Works Cited
“Career Assessments, Myers-Briggs® & More | Career Assessment Site.” A Clear Path for the Future, careerassessmentsite.com/tests/thomas-kilmann-tki-tests/about-the-thomas-kilmann-conflict-mode-instrument-tki/.
“Free DISC Test.” DISC Personality Testing, 15 Jan. 2018, discpersonalitytesting.com/free-disc-test/.
“Free Personality Test.” 16Personalities, www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test.
“Thomas Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument.” YouTube, YouTube, 18 Sept. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFIydyH2H8Y.
