Q-people by Jan Theuninck, 1999

 

 acrylic on canvas, 70 x 100 cm

acrylic on canvas, 70 x 100 cm

This work is about a Belgian Military Blackmail game in Charleroi, involving a female officer,  

probably ordered by Jan Theuninck's father, after whose death the neighbors told that he had a homosexual relationship with a local priest in Zonnebeke, a certain Christiaens.

Jan Theuninck's nephew, 18 years old at that time, called that female officer an army mattress.

It's an example of a psychological projection: for more theoretical explanation, the psychological processes are splitting, projection & projective identification. Splitting means not recognizing one's own capacity for hate, cruelty, and destructiveness. The person is blind to the bad in themselves. Instead, they project the badness onto some designated other. And this other person, via the defense of projection, is now seen as the repository of all that is bad and evil and necessary to destroy. That's the projection.

The person now feels fully justified in unleashing

their viciousness and hate on the other person, who is now seen (via projection) as someone monstrous who must be destroyed. If the person who is projected on responds to the provocation with anger, this is now seen as further confirmation of how hateful and destructive they are (this is what is called is "projective identification.") The end result is that the person can deny their own sadism, cruelty, and hate—while simultaneously acting it out without restraint. And feel themselves to be 100% on the side of truth and right as they do it.

cfr Prof. Jonathan Shedler