Extent: 1 audio cassette (90min), 4 digital files (844 MB )
Comprises audio recording of a lecture entitled 'Obsessional Neuroses and Space' given by Mark Cousins on the 23rd February, 2001. The recordings consist of a TDK 90 audio cassette tape, 2 digital preservation files (688 MB, .wav format) and 2 digital access files (156 MB, .mp3 format). Duration of access version: 1hr 6min 18sec.
Copyright: Architectural Association
Creator: Mark Cousins
Admin History: The recording is of the 11th lecture in the series entitled 'Psyche and Space', given by Mark Cousins as part of the AA General Studies programme, 2000-2001. In this lecture Mark Cousins articulates how 'I love you', 'I hate you', etc are unintelligible until they are interpreted in terms of different unconscious desire. He outlines how there are different unconscious motivations for different states and argues that neuroses show different kinds of spatial relationships, at the level of the psyche. He discusses whether obsessional neurosis can be described in spatial terms -where does such a neurotic want the object to be? Cousins considers that this raises interesting architectural questions, whereby distance involves control and proximity being out of control. He considers the fantasy of fragmentation, cleaning and the economy of dirt, alongside the problem of domestic space. Cousins asks how photography suggests proximity and distance - focus. In concluding his lecture Mark argues that the obsessional has a conflict between his conscious and unconscious desires and is caught in two different spatialities. In Mark's terms, Architecture is about enclosed space and openings to the external - 'the jubilant anus'.
Custodial History: Audio cassette recording was made by the AA Audio Visual Department and retained by the AA Photo Library until 2019, when it was transferred to the AA Archives.
Aquisition: Audio cassette was transferred from the AA Photo Library to the AA Archives in 2019. Digital preservation and access copies were created by the AA Archives in 2021.
Archive Note: Catalogue description by Ke Bo Tsai and Parveen Adams
Publication Note: AA Events List, Spring Term, Week 7, 19th - 23rd February, 2001