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II. Fbb. Projective Transformations Compared with a rigid motion transformation in the same plane, a transformation from three dimensions to two dimensions , a projective transformation, geometrically causes gross deformations of the original object. For instance, when a sphere is projected onto a plane, it becomes a circle. This kind of transformation may be a metaphor for projective identification in the transference, where what is transmitted is deformed. The relation between the invariants remains stable but is much more difficult to recognize than in a simple projection. Bion gives the example of a patient who adds all kinds of material that has nothing to do with the experience that he is talking about, so that the invariants of the original experience become almost unrecognizable in the session. II. Fbc. Transformation in Hallucinosis/Infinity Transformation in infinity occurs when there is a projection within a space with infinite dimensions. This kind of geometrical transformation may be a metaphor for what happens in sessions with psychotic patients, hence the name ‘ transformation in hallucinosis ’. Bion (1970, p. 13) gives the example of a patient talking about ice-cream, a word which comes back many sessions later without any link and may now be heard as ‘I scream’. The words used, ‘Ice-cream – I scream’, are like widely separated points in space. In this kind of transformation, it is very difficult to recognize the invariants and their conjunctions, that reflect the original object. Links are attacked and disappear, and points are scattered in infinity. There are no longer any thoughts to hold on to in infinity; it is experienced as an enormous frightening space without thoughts that can be seen as lines that give a frame. What remains for psychotics is as Pascal puts it: ‘Ces espaces infinies, m’effrayent’ [“The eternal silence of these infinite spaces terrifies me.”] (Blaise Pascal 1669, p. 73; in Bion 1965/1984, p. 171). The result is “an intolerance for and fear of the ‘unknowable’ and hence of the unconscious in the sense of the undiscovered or the unevolved » (ibid.). Instead of thoughts giving rise to a three-dimensional containing space, there is continuous destruction of thoughts by the obstructive object in psychosis (the opposite of a containing object, often in the form of a primitive destructive super-ego), which is seen by Bion as a greedy, destructive, all absorbing entity. II Fbd. Transformation of the Psychoanalytic Object – Transformation in ‘O’ as compared to in ‘K’ Bion compares the transformations of the psychoanalytic object with the reflection of a tree in the water. If the unknowable psychoanalytic object is the tree, then in Rigid Motion Transformation – the constant conjunctions of elements – makes it possible to recognize the tree by its in reflection in the water, in projective transformation the water is stirred by the wind and one cannot see it clearly, in transformation in hallucinosis (following Bion’s metaphor), one could say that the reflection is similar to reflection on the pieces of a broken fragmented mirror and it is difficult to perceive the tree ( only by intuition).
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