Chapter 1 Creativity hurts

1.1. Those who make the legend live

The number of mad artists is ambiguous, but impressive. The following list mentions just some creative people, who were mad (although the nature of this subject makes absolute proof impossible) :

There are three artists in the list whose cases are of particular interest for this thesis. They are firstly Vincent van Gogh - as the classic example of a mad genius , Virginia Woolf - who was incapable of writing during a depression , and finally Edvard Munch - an artist, who used painting as therapy .

Born in 1853 in Holland, Vincent van Gogh gave up school at the age of 15. Although showing an early interest art, he worked in an office and as a preacher, before he choose to work artistically in 1880. A number of events led to his first mental breakdown in 1888, where he cut off his ear. After that he attended mental institutions and after a short period of apparent peacefulness shot himself in 1890. During most of his life he suffered periods of depression and heavy drinking. He was diagnosed as 'suffering from acute mania . . . subject to epileptic fits . . . by Dr.Peyron at St.Paul's. This diagnosis has since been strongly criticised by numerous psychiatrists, suggesting instead a diagnosis of schizophrenia. V.Gogh's life, work and illness has promoted a vast number of biographies, but the facts remain surprisingly cloudy, which has helped to merely glorify the myth of the ' maddened genius'

Virginia Woolf was born in 1882 . When she was only 13 years old, her sister Julia died resulting in Virginia's first nervous breakdown. In 1904 Virginia's father died and three months later she suffered a second breakdown and attempted to kill herself . In 1912 Virginia married Leonard Woolf but in September 1913 attempted a second suicide. Since then she suffered constantly from fits of depression, diseases and several breakdowns, until she took her life in desperation in 1941. In his autobiography, Leonard Woolf describes Virginia's fear of criticism as so great that it directly caused fits of depression and rage. For Virginia Woolf madness was not the hideout of a genius mind, on the contrary, it endangered her very existence as a person and an artist ': . . . whenever she finished a book, a condition of mental exhaustion settled in and for weeks she was in danger of collapsing. ' Virginia Woolf is a classic example of a truly inspired, but very ill artist. Her illness never was the source, but always a direct result of creativity.

The Norwegian painter Edvard Munch , born in 1863 , started painting when he was only 17. Suffering and death cast a shadow over his childhood, when his beloved sister Sophie, and soon after his mother , died of tuberculosis. His father was a religious fanatic and his elder sister suffered from schizophrenia. He wrote ' . . . sickness and insanity were the black angels which guarded my cradle '. During his life he painted some 1,700 canvases, most of which dealt with his painful memories and failed love affairs. He introduced the idea of a visual biography in ' The Freeze of Life ' ,in 1893 . He obsessively returned to the same themes again and again, attempting to cure his pain. This method appears to have enabled him to control his mental instability.

There are a surprisingly large number of aspects to be considered regarding the connection between creativity and madness. But there are three main questions :

- Does creativity induce insanity?

- Does insanity induce creativity?

- Is there any other connection (i.e. physical, social, etc.).

1.2 The pressure on artists

It is commonly understood that artists are special people, people who create something that is not only of monetary and personal value, but that is also of cultural value, i.e. it something to be admired by future generations. This is a very important aspect of the creative process, because it raises the issue of immortality. Trying hard to achieve this, the artist puts him/herself continuously under pressure to produce new work of the highest standard. Modern mass-communication has increasingly raised these standards. Today, art-works have to compete not only with the best contemporary works from all over the world, but also with the best of art throughout history, because television and modern printing methods have made art accessible to nearly everybody.

The creative career has become one of the most competitive professions. Success is very important, not necessarily in terms of finance, but in terms of honor and self appreciation. In other words, because the artist's job is to create a personalised vision, the lack of recognition of this work not only criticises his/her skill but also his/her personality. In short, the nature of creative work is far more emotional and thus vulnerable. According to Leonard Woolf, Virginia Woolf suffered breakdowns, depressions and suicidal tendencies when she had just finished a book, in fear of criticism.. This is why artists are quite desperate to be successful (not in terms of money, but self-esteem) ,and may find themselves under more pressure than they can cope with.

Virginia Woolf

This pressure will have an effect on the mental state of the artist. Stress at work or elsewhere meanwhile is accepted to be a source of mental and physical problems. Doctors world-wide are addressing the problem of lifestyle. If one considers that in addition to the above mentioned pressure, creative work is often a solitary pursuit which leads to some kind of expression (i.e. communication) , and likely involves a large degree of self analytical examination, it is not surprising, that artists often suffer. The conflict between communication and self-centered work has to cause problems. In Michelangelo's letters for example, it becomes clear that 'the higher he rose in the esteem in the world, the more difficult and bitter he became'.

1.3 - You don't have to be mad to be an artist, but it helps

Constantly mixing and talking to fellow artists, I have found a surprisingly illogical and dangerous notion, that it helps an artist to be mad. I consider this to be dangerous because it glorifies suffering. The creative process though, deals with confrontation and addressing problems, not with running away from reality. The reason why some people might think they need to escape from reality lies in the pressure artists are often exposed to (see 3.2) .

However, madness is of course not something we can choose to have, but madness is often related to pressure. Alcohol- and drug abuse are problems we have some control over , although some may argue that both problems are entirely a genetic condition, and that the affected person therefore has no control over them.

1.3a - Depression

depression - a mental disorder marked by inactivity, difficulty in thinking and concentrating, and especially by sadness or dejection

post-depressive work

It would appear, that everybody suffers from depression occasionally, some more often than others and some more severely then others. According to Dr.Paul Hauck : Depression is not the most common emotional disturbance. Anger and fear are. And we all experience anger and fear on a daily basis. In his book 'Depression' , Hauck shows that in nearly all cases, depression is self-inflicted, and comes to the conclusion that only through understanding the deeper psychological roots for the depression, one can thoroughly heal oneself from it. Antidepressant drugs play a major role taking a patient out of a current depression, but they are unlikely to truly repair the patients psyche. 'During a depression,' Prof.Dr.R.Michaelis argues,' it is nearly impossible to do anything, let alone create.

However, it appears that quite a lot of people are creative during a depression. Most people who suffer from depression, artists and non-artists alike, experience a strong desire to work creatively during such a depression. The reason for this, I imagine is the fact that the depressed feels the desire to communicate and thus share this horrendous feeling; to tell others about the pain in an appropriate way. Straight words are often too banal and limited in their expression to communicate something rooted so deeply and which seems so important. By choosing a more ambiguous means of expression one can leave an emergency-exit ,a way to say :'No, that's not what the poem is about at all !'Hauck shows that self-pity and self-criticism are the major causes for depression because if a person criticises their every move and thinks of themselves as worthless, he/she is bound to get depressed.

Ernest Hemingway

Lord Byron

The artistic profession is an extremely competitive one, not unlike some others, but more personal values are at stake. When I criticise a work of art I criticise not only the skill but also the entire person. In fact according to many artists who have replied to my questionnaire have stated directly that they feel they have to be divine/superhuman and are devastated when criticised. Some are even reluctant to show their work in case it is rejected. In order to avoid the embarrassment of rejection the artist goes through a large amount of self-criticism before he/she will show their work. Other individuals are capable of considering their work on a fully professional basis.

1.3b – Escapism - alcoholism, drug abuse

The use and misuse of alcohol is disturbingly frequent among creative people. Arthur Rothenberg presents the list shown below as examples of those visual artists and writers who were/are alcoholics I have not added names to this list as it is difficult to prove such claim.

Visual Artists

Mark Rothko - Arshile Gorky - Jackson Pollock - William de Kooning

Writers

James Agee - Charles Pierre Baudelaire - Louise Bogan - James Boswell - Truman Capote - John Cheever - Stephen Crane - Theodore Dreiser - William Faulkner - F.Scott Fitzgerald - Lillian Hellman - Ernest Hemingway - Victor Hugo - Samuel Johnson - Ring Lardner - Sinclair Lewis - Jack London - Robert Lowell - Malcom Lowry - John O'Hara - Eugene O'Neill - Edgar Allan Poe - William S. Porter - Edwin Arlington Robinson - John Steinbeck - Dylan Thomas - Tennessee Williams - Thomas Wolfe

But does creativity causes alcoholism, or vice versa ?

Although alcoholism is a very serious problem, it is of course not a type of madness. However, alcohol, like madness, alters our state of mind, and this could be the reason why so many artists directly use alcohol. 'But why should artists want to alter their state of mind ?' one might ask. The answer to this question seems to lie in the concept of the subconscious. In order to fulfill the public's and their own (according to Paddy Grahame) expectations of a 'godlike' creator(see 3.2) , the artist seeks help. Knowing that he/she is not divine the artist looks for something that whilst uniquely attributed to him/herself is yet removed from and outside the usual self : the subconscious

self actualisation through drugs - Artist unknown

The conscious it seems is too pedestrian, too focused on ordinary reality and too unimaginative to provide the kind of unusual and extraordinary information and experiences usually associated with art.

It is the subconscious we expect to fill this gap, when all the hidden truths about ourselves and the universe come to light . . .

acute drug-confusion

1.3c Suicide - destruction and creation

Although destruction and creation are opposed to each other there seems to be a sort of love - hate relationship between the two. The artist, consciously struggling to fulfill his/her aims might as much as escaping by drinking give up entirely. After all, the misuse of alcohol is very destructive and often results in furthering problems, not reducing them.

depressive work Artist unknown

There is a certain divinity in taking one's life, a kind of ultimate control for which we are all looking. However, suicide is hardly ever caused by creativity because creativity when adequately recognised by the artist should add to their self-esteem. In fact creativity is rather a means to deal with such highly destructive feelings and helps the affected person to communicate these painful and dangerous feelings.

It may be argued that creativity in this context is not truly artistic because it merely serves as therapy. Sylvia Plath is said to have written quite differently when in a suicidal phase and these writings are not what earned her the world-wide respect and recognition as a gifted writer. Virginia Woolf was practically unable to create while she was in a suicidal phase. However, I have strong reservations about this idea. Is it not the need to communicate something we feel strongly about that provides the prime motivation for artistic creation ? Of the artists that I talked to and that answered my questionnaire many indicated that this is the case. ' It is the sea of sorrows and depressions from which I seize my inspiration'. Thankfully the number of suicides within the arts is relatively low.

Sylvia Plath

1.3d Homosexuality

Homosexuality is of course not sick or mad, but it is unusual and thus considered abnormal (abnormal being unlike the norm, i.e. a minority) .The rather large percentage of homosexuals in the arts demands explanation. According to G. Domino 'there are no statistical grounds for assuming that homosexuals are more successfully creative than heterosexuals' based on a test of getting representatives of both groups to engage in creative writing. The social background of a homosexual individual is likely to be very different from that of a heterosexual in that the homosexual person continuously has to fight discrimination. In a lot of cases, I imagine, especially before the 1970's, these individuals were forced to hide their sexual orientation. Creativity is a way to legitimately communicate these feelings.

The poems Michelangelo wrote show that he was troubled by doubts as to whether his art had been sinful. Michelangelo 'Dying Slave'

Mapplethorpe's work addresses homosexuality amongst other themes very directly, but never without technical and compositional brilliance. Self-portrait by Robert Mapplethorpe

Since the people involved in the arts are supposedly more liberal than members of other professions, the 'outcast' will find acceptance and respect here more than elsewhere. These are possible reasons why a homosexual individual might be drawn to the creative profession. That is not to say that they are not genuinely creative. For those who believe that there is an artist in everyone, and that it just needs to be developed the above mentioned ideas are fundamental. Also responsible for the large percentage of homosexuals in the arts, is the fact that the artistic work environment allows for eccentricity and unusual behaviour.

Francis Bacon -'Study for portrait of Lucian Freud'

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