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Creativity and Insanity - discuss
calenlass:
(Jens is angry that he has no talents)
(read: Jens is useless and sad)
Cernunnos:
I am in art school, about to finish. Many people here are "crazy".
But the number of actually insane ones is no higher here than anywhere else as far as I can tell.
Van Gogh is an oft-cited example of an artist with mental problems. I think it's important to note that he was the least productive when going through bouts of extreme mental anguish, and most productive when well. Despite the purported links between creativity and mental illness, true, full-blown mental illness is usually very, very detrimental to a person's productivity in any field, creative or not.
This all being said, I certainly use my tendency to clean and organize compulsively to fuel my work. The important thing is, my art is not about my impulses, it's about themes and ideas that are applicable to the outside world. I have a feeling that outside of spectacle, there isn't often a way for an audience to enter into a work that is solely the product of someone's own personal difficulties. In other words, work that begins in one's own private problems has a tendency to stay there, and may be easily seen as self-indulgent by its intended audience.
ViolentDove:
Hey I just proofed a story on this. It's over here.
pwhodges:
I am not mad; but in spite of having many skills, I have not a trace of creativity in me. However, this proves nothing; JS Bach was as level-headed as can be imagined, but is considered one of the greatest musicians of all time.
Beethoven was perhaps not mad, but definitely very cranky - but who wouldn't be, going deaf progressively while still a young adult, and a musician at that (not to mention getting dumped with his nephew to bring up); but he was great before he went deaf and got so cranky, so no clear correlation there.
Schumann was in and out of a mental asylum - the music he wrote while in it is distinctly strange rather than great (but I like it...).
Louis Wayne drew pretty, anthropomorphic cat pictures; but when he went into an asylum, his art got weirder and more colourful and dramatic - definitely an improvement to my mind.
Lots of totally uncreative people are mad, but no-one notices much.
I think what I'm saying is that there is no clear correlation between madness and creativity (or genius in any other aspect) - it will always be possible to show examples, but also counter examples in equal quantity.
WriterofAllWrongs:
The only artist who had a specific mental condition that comes to mind is Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. He was part of the Russian composer quintet "The Five" along with Modest Mussorgsky. He had a form of synesthesia which translated musical keys and intervals into colors. That is pretty cool to me!
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