When the familiar becomes unfamiliar, we call it uncanny. That is to say, when something almost satisfies our brain’s search for human likeness, but falls short by a small margin, we experience a characteristic sense of unease at the sight of it. This is our understanding of what it is about realistic androids and almost-perfect-but-not-quite CGI that makes our skin crawl, and it stems from Freudian theory surrounding the German word “unheimlich.” Freud tells us that the unheimlich, or unhomely, is our experience when confronted with something that is like home to us, but is made wrong somehow. How do you incorporate the unheimlich, or uncanny, into your artwork?
