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Thursday, November 26, 2015

Wittgenstein's Dream review – Gavin Turk mocks Freud in his own house

The Freud Museum, London Ludwig Wittgenstein was deeply sceptical about the claims of psychoanalysis. Now, Gavin Turk gently ribs its founder with an entertaining takeover of his hallowed home Sigmund Freud is probably the most famous modern scientist after Einstein. In the shop at the Freud Museum, his iconic status is all too apparent: it is full of Freud finger puppets, soft toys, framed photographs and comic-book retellings of psychoanalytic theory. But is the science this Viennese doctor founded even a real science? Not everyone would agree. Freud is due for some mild mockery, and Gavin Turk provides just that in an entertaining intervention inside this hallowed house. In Freud’s study, among the ancient Greek and Egyptian curios of the great man’s art collection, the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein stands holding an egg in the palm of his hand. The egg is a real thing, a simple fact. Is Wittgenstein holding it or dreaming he is holding it? Or is he one of Freud’s own dreams? For the dapper-suited figure is a waxwork, frozen in space and time. Continue reading...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.theguardian.com