"MANIFESTATION" [As Astra per Aspera]

MATERIALS: Flip Board / Flash Cards set

“Manifestation”; This piece aims to address the complexity and psychological / physiological impact of trauma, highlighting how it can be triggered by everyday sensory stimuli, the unconscious apprehension and the perpetual nature of its immediacy that is without warning.

Trauma can induce a multiplicity of reactions that can overwhelm the sufferer, generating fear, apprehension, dread and intrusive thoughts. Its insidiousness and psychological scarring are omnipotent, a trigger can materialize without indication and can be perceived simply by sound, sight or smell alone.

The use of a flip board (reminiscent of airports and train stations, implying imminence, but also impermanence) and its cacophonic clicking (which will be amplified to heighten the respective response to the display) represents the immediacy of trauma, and that it can be actuated literally in any form. The word trauma will be displayed on the board at random intervals, again suggesting a suddenness of triggering thoughts, bodily sensations and disorientation. Rather than (intentional) triggering or downplaying trauma, the installation aims to prompt self-reflection on individual reactions to the word and concept of trauma in a gallery setting.

Manifestations intention is to illuminate the suffering caused, and drawing from the Latin phrase “Ad Astra per Aspera” (to the stars through difficulty), the work suggests that confronting and understanding trauma can lead to growth and greater insight.

The artwork titled "Manifestation (Ad Astra per Aspera)" outlines an art installation that seeks to explore and provoke reflection on trauma and its unpredictable nature.