I had meant to include this in the last post that I did but I felt that it would just be easier having a blog of its own. The Topic that I kind of want to touch upon is the misconception that every artist is this broody self-loathing, body-scarring manic-depressive. Personally I’m not a tortured soul and I yet I do art, surely not!
What I am going to explore is creativity darker side since all artists, poets and writers have this stereotypical view of being sick twisted individuals and I would like to know why this is so. Many scientists believe that individuals with complex brain habits such as bipolar disorder, TB and epilepsy have a more heighten sense of creativity.
Creativity and bipolar disorder
There is a common belief, although without empirical basis, that many famous historical figures gifted with creative talents have been affected by bipolar disorder.[1] Many of these have been retroactively "diagnosed" as suffering from bipolar disorder after their deaths based on letters, correspondence, contemporaneous accounts, or other material, most notably in Kay Redfield Jamison's book Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament.[3]. Touched With Fire presents the argument that bipolar disorder may be found in a disproportionate numbers of people with creative talent such as artists, comedians, musicians, authors, performers, poets, and scientists, and some credit the condition for their creativity.
Several recent clinical studies have also suggested that there is a positive correlation between creativity and bipolar disorder, although it is unclear what the relationship is between the two.[4][5][6] Temperament may be an intervening variable.[5]
A 2005 study at the Stanford University School of Medicine showed for the first time that a sample of children who either have or are at high risk for bipolar disorder score higher on a creativity index. Children with bipolar parents who were not bipolar themselves also scored higher.[7]
As Quoted by wikipedia .
So is this where creative types get their dark stereotype? That the most talented of all artists were very deep and disturbed? Surprisingly it reads true as most of the most the most famous artistic names such as Van Gogh, Edvard Munch and Monet all had such problems that affected their personal lives as well as their art. Monet had failing eyesight that caused him being one of the leading artists in impressionism. Munch was surrounded by death and therefore most his paintings surrounded that topic and yet Van Gogh was so caught up in his own depression it eventually drove him to suicide.
http://student.bmj.com/back_issues/1201/life/471.html
So our greatest painting minds are tortured souls that lives are strife with depression and death. Is that why they can paint so well? My belief is that to have an emotion to tap into whilst working can bring a lot more personality to whatever your working on but to go so far and torture yourself for the sake of your art is completely another thing entirely.
Someone told me that going into Art will never be much personal satisfaction into my life as I would be my own worst enemy and worst critic. After finishing a drawing I am never pleased with it and always strive to do better although doing this means that I will constantly try to improve it also means that I won’t get any satisfaction or pride finishing a piece. Perhaps that is what these artists also went through.
Perhaps leading a life of happiness of personal fulfilment would mean that these artists wouldn’t have been as successful as they were when they were brooding and miserable. Van Gogh only sold one painting in his lifetime so he wasn’t exactly a popular artist however what is fascinating about him is the tragedy that surrounded his life. I don’t think the story of Van Gogh would be quite as interesting with a “happy ever after” added to the end of it. I think secretly people love the idea of a tortured soul and a grim tale. This also reminds me of Nirvana whose front man Kurt Cobain whose rising success and drug use pushed him to take his own life. However since he took his life at the height of his fame he will always be known as a musical genius where as most musical talent have their 15 minutes with fame and then disappear out of the spotlight and get forgotten.
I think the idea of a dark brooding artist is a romantic idea but not that close to reality since everyone has their dark moments but won’t really put any energy into it to creative something out of it like a artists, writer or poet would. The only reason that they probably come across so dark is that at the end of it you can see the product of a deep emotion.
However I think that in this day and age that too many have cottoned on to this idea of a deep brooding soul and decided to make a new trend of it. Being labelled “Emo” isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it stands for emotional.
In recent years, emo, in the popular media, has been associated with a stereotype that includes being emotional, sensitive, shy, introverted, or angsty.[18][19][20] It is also associated with depression, self-injury, and suicide.[21][22]
As quoted by wikipedia
However since it has became so popular it has became common belief that you have to act that way to fit in with that crowd. I can’t imagine acting suicidal being good for anyone. However not only is it associated with depression and such it is also associated with art and music. However type in Emo art in google image search and you’ll see that emo art is becoming more of a movement in art as well as music.
Any the point that I am trying to make is that an artist is often that off as a dark brooding soul as the French romantics saw it that way but also now in our day an age the new movement of emo also adds fuel to the fire of this misconception with emotional music and art. However all I can say is that I don’t really know any dark emotionally scarred people and I’ve been on many art courses…
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