Daandrey Steyn exhibition at the University of Pretoria

Ambivalence entails living with contradictory views or emotions. Ambivalence creates the space for both these contradictions to co-inhabit an individual simultaneously. Psychologically, ambivalence is a condition of mind in which conflicting values are allowed to share the space and investment of our attention (Nash 2001:55). According to Nash (2001:54) ambivalence allows genuine contact-full relations with the mixed conditions of reality. This means that we are able to live with and accept the myriad inherent contradictions of our postmodern environment. Ambivalence can be seen as the cohesion of self and reality, for ambiguity allows us genuine contactful relations with the mixed conditions of reality of the postmodern, and the possibility of continuing on. The self can be seen as inhabiting the threshold of ambivalence.