Tie Dye and Inkblots: Similarities and dissimilarities between tie dye and inkblots
Tie dye is an artistic process applied to fabric. The fabric is tied and then dye is applied. The dye does not take to the areas of fabric that are tied. It was very popular during the hippie era. Tie dying often has specific “nonambiguous” patterns unlike a Rorschach (which of course is a process applied to paper and designed to produce accidental images). Sophisticated tie dying is not accidental at all and involves complex knowledge of pattern making. However, like the inkblot, it is an everyperson can do it kind of art. They are both humble art forms, which I think has merit.
Here are some links to tie dye definitions and images on the internet.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/tie-dye
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tie-dye
The image in wikipedia is particularly interesting in its sophistication re pattern making. The patterns are symmetrical like a Rorschach but not ambiguous. I expect though that you can get ambiguous patterns with tie dye and if I ever become interested in applying Rorschach imagery to fabric I may engage the methodology of tie dye.
Historically speaking, one might say…tie dye was part of the encouragement of the hallucinatory experience. Inkblots were used to identify such experiences in the hopes that people who really suffered from them could find antidotes to them.
Finally, tie dye “signifies” something very different from an “inkblot” culturally. Tie dye signifies the hippie error and a time of psychedelic colors and getting high to the point where one’s brain probably looked tie dyed. Inkblots, unfortunately, have changed in their initial signifying function of playful subjective objects to an intimidating test, which some people automatically resist.
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