13. September 2023

An Obsession and Ode to Psyche from Sarah Rapson

Shown simultaneously in Vienna in 2022, the two exhibitions represent distinct artistic approaches to accessing the unconscious. Sarah Rapson’s solo show in the Vienna Secession evokes a desire to see that which is evoked and ultimately withheld, inviting viewers to “open themselves up”.  The conceptual artist enables an immediate encounter with the unconscious. This article explores this encounter via Lacan’s theory of the gaze as object a. Dali’s surrealist paintings, presented at the Belvedere in Vienna, raise questions about the seductive and narcissistic bonds of the Imaginary, as well as on the theoretical foundations of his “paranoiac-critical method”, which purportedly draw on contents from the unconscious as inspiration. In this article, the author discusses – prompted by the experience of a withdrawal of representation in the image – shows how the lack, the drives, and the fragile position of the ego are manifested in desire.