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The power of the projected self: a case study in self artistry

The “projected self” is an individual engaged in a life project. The power that enables an individual to formulate, to embark on, and to effect a life project is of an “existential”, embodied kind: something fuelled metabolically within the body of the individual, and conceived of by way of his or her ongoing, individual acts of interpretation. In this article the life of the English artist Stanley Spencer is looked to as a case study through which to flesh out and apply the above conceptual terms and their argument. To what extent can there be said to be a relationship between the “work of art” that Spencer created in and as his life, and his influence over those forces and those others that might otherwise have claimed a hold over his life? Spencer’s construction of a beautiful, involved, and extensive worldview, the article argues, does translate into him exercising a conscious control over the course of his life and enjoying a wellbeing of identity.