Psychoanalytic and autoethnographic analysis of contemporary art practices based on possibilities of autobiographical expression in postgraduate art education programs

The reasons for the formation of contemporary art, which started with the end of modernism in the 1960s and continues today, emerged in the same way of thinking with postmodern theory, with the questioning of various social and global events such as rationalism, technological advances, the first and second world wars, and capitalism. By putting forward a different approach from traditional art, contemporary art has a style in which every object can be transformed into an artistic product, in which the content structure is more important than the form. With the individual approaches, subjective attitude, and the fact that the content gains importance over the form in contemporary art, the self-perception and 'me', the facts about the self (his autobiography, self, experiences, etc.) and elements of the society and cultural facts (autoethnographic data) have been more focused. The idea of individuality that started with modernity, the attention to memory issue with the development of psychoanalysis, and the thought that uniqueness is not possible with the criticisms of individuality in postmodern theories are important factors for contemporary artists to turn to themselves or their autobiographies. The pertinent literature also claims that contemporary artists use their autobiographies for a variety of purposes, including deconstructing Rousseau's "Confessions," which is acknowledged as the first autobiographical work of the postmodern theorist Derrida, and reflecting the alienation situation through personal experience as the issue of identity becomes significant. Based on this, it is revealed that contemporary art is an artistic presentation of the unknown aspects of life, based on the subject-object integrity of individual life, through works based on autobiographical artistic expression examined in the research. While examining the concept of autobiography in the research, it is vital to examine the concept of memory due to the act of remembering, and the examination of autobiographical memory, which is a sub-field of memory, as a sub-section of episodic memory. All experiences and memories of the person are stored in this section with the knowledge of space and time. Autobiographical memory constitutes the self-perception of the individual because it stores the experiences related to his own life. At this point, the use of this memory and self-perception is in question while presenting an artistic practice based on autobiographical expression. As an significant concept in the research problem of the self, it is a structure that is shaped by the knowledge of who the individual is and his relationship with others, and it helps to regulate the perception of oneself and the environment, and to create motives. The idea of autobiography was used as a research methodology in this study. In this context, the practices of contemporary artists and postgraduate art education students who have autobiographical works were determined and psychoanalytic and autoethnographic criticism methods were applied on the works. The purpose of the research; in contemporary art, to identify the works in which autobiographical memory and personal memory are used as a means of expression, to analyze the data obtained by autoethnographic and psychoanalytic work criticism in the light of theoretical studies. In this research, it is also aimed to reveal the autobiographical facts, psychological and cultural effects in the creation processes of contemporary artists who reveal selected autobiographical works, and to determine student views on the psychoanalytic and autoethnographic analysis of autobiographical works and contemporary art practices based on autobiographical expression possibilities in postgraduate art education programs through one-to-one interviews. In addition, cultural phenomena, cultural codes, social identity and social relations network are examined and the use of auto-biographical memory, which is aimed to be revealed in psychoanalytic method analysis, the expression of personal and collective past in artistic practices, the effects of the past-unconscious on the creation process are examined. In the research, the psychoanalytic work criticism method, which is used as an analysis method, is used as an important method in the analysis of the artists' autobiography and psychic phenomena in the production process. In the study, eight (8) postgraduate art education students who were determined to demonstrate practices based on autobiographical expression were interviewed individually by creating a purposeful sample. With the interview form prepared by the researcher in line with expert opinions, students' opinions were taken as pilot and main interviews. Within the scope of this thesis, it has been determined that contemporary artists and postgraduate art education students who produce applications based on autobiographical expression also produce by being influenced by the society and culture they live in, and from time to time personal experience intersects with these cultural and social phenomena and turns into artistic motivation. In the works of contemporary artists identified in the research and in the practices of postgraduate art education students, the cultural structure, social order and cultural structure of the society, which is significant in terms of ethnographic importance, the transfer of autoethnographic information, transference of self, the reflection of autoethnographic data as figurative form/symbol and the effects of the other have been found. In this research, postgraduate art education programs in Turkey were examined and it was determined that the theoretical and practical courses that would provide artistic productions based on autobiographical expression were not sufficient. It has been revealed that contemporary art studies and content based on autobiographical expression, which is a prominent form of artistic production in contemporary art, is one of the requirements of contemporary art education, and will contribute to postgraduate art education students in terms of artistic production and thought in contemporary education.