VIRGINIA WOOLF
"The word 'time' split its husk; poured its riches over him; and from his lips fell like shells, like shavings from a plane, without his making them, hard, white, imperishable words, and flew to attach themselves to their places in an ode to Time; an immortal ode to Time."
"She felt very young; at the same time unspeakably aged. She sliced like a knife through everything; at the same time was outside, looking on... far out to sea and alone; she always had the feeling that it was very, very dangerous to live even one day."
(Mrs Dalloway)
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
EDITORIAL
GREETINGS.
Creativity is an inherently human gift. Everyone has it within themselves- the ability to create, out of their own ingenuity, a visual, musical or other form of interpretation of something. It is an important part in recalling our history, studying our psyche, observing our world, and exploring new ideas. Mental illness, or madness, has for a long time been connected with creativity; ‘creatives’ such as writers and visual artists, especially, are often expected to have some degree of madness.
There are many reasons for this; and it’s a subject I’ve been thinking about for a long time. So, when our project in year 12 Media was set for the semester, I decided to make PSYCHONIGHTMARE: a zine looking at this subject, and exploring the history of it, and what people think of it. The process of making a zine is quite tedious- and so I thank everyone who’s helped me in the process (see a list on the end page).
So welcome to PSYCHONIGHTMARE, Issue One; prepare yourself to explore the unknown….
CATHERINE CLAESSENS
Creativity is an inherently human gift. Everyone has it within themselves- the ability to create, out of their own ingenuity, a visual, musical or other form of interpretation of something. It is an important part in recalling our history, studying our psyche, observing our world, and exploring new ideas. Mental illness, or madness, has for a long time been connected with creativity; ‘creatives’ such as writers and visual artists, especially, are often expected to have some degree of madness.
There are many reasons for this; and it’s a subject I’ve been thinking about for a long time. So, when our project in year 12 Media was set for the semester, I decided to make PSYCHONIGHTMARE: a zine looking at this subject, and exploring the history of it, and what people think of it. The process of making a zine is quite tedious- and so I thank everyone who’s helped me in the process (see a list on the end page).
So welcome to PSYCHONIGHTMARE, Issue One; prepare yourself to explore the unknown….
CATHERINE CLAESSENS
Saturday, November 13, 2010
NEW INTERVIEW: Lithana
1. Greetings.
My name is Lit, my game is groovy and I have no clue what a Canberra haunt is.
2. I’m not sure about a direct relation, sure there are stories of great artists being mentally unstable but there are just as many with no history of mental illness. I do think creative output would be a tad bit different though due to some differences in mental boundaries.
3. Creative expression occupies 70% of my free time; I play various musical instruments, write songs and lyrics. It’s a beautiful way to release yourself, so is exercise. I wish I could draw.
4. In primary school I knew one fellow with slight autism, he shunned all traditional forms of creativity but his mind was brilliant. He was smart, no other way to say it. His brain could process things really quickly but due to his autism he never really talked to anybody. He had a worker with him at all times and he never did anything but math.
5. I don’t know, if people are interested enough in the subject I think they should go for it. Independent study with good funding can go a long way.
6. No one really comes to mind. Never really thought about this before. Never had much experience with this personally so I don’t consider myself an authority on it either.
7. As I said before, I see creative expression as a release. When an artist experiences something that affects them on a personal level, the output is going to be more unique and heartfelt. I think they’d have to do something during these episodes.
8. There is. The unknown is scary to people, that’s just how we are. I myself don’t know enough about mental illnesses therefore I don’t know how to act. There have been times where I just go about my business and people think me insensitive and if I avoid people with a clear mental illness then I am just one of many people. It’s the uncertainty that makes people uncomfortable.
9. Fo shizzle.
My name is Lit, my game is groovy and I have no clue what a Canberra haunt is.
2. I’m not sure about a direct relation, sure there are stories of great artists being mentally unstable but there are just as many with no history of mental illness. I do think creative output would be a tad bit different though due to some differences in mental boundaries.
3. Creative expression occupies 70% of my free time; I play various musical instruments, write songs and lyrics. It’s a beautiful way to release yourself, so is exercise. I wish I could draw.
4. In primary school I knew one fellow with slight autism, he shunned all traditional forms of creativity but his mind was brilliant. He was smart, no other way to say it. His brain could process things really quickly but due to his autism he never really talked to anybody. He had a worker with him at all times and he never did anything but math.
5. I don’t know, if people are interested enough in the subject I think they should go for it. Independent study with good funding can go a long way.
6. No one really comes to mind. Never really thought about this before. Never had much experience with this personally so I don’t consider myself an authority on it either.
7. As I said before, I see creative expression as a release. When an artist experiences something that affects them on a personal level, the output is going to be more unique and heartfelt. I think they’d have to do something during these episodes.
8. There is. The unknown is scary to people, that’s just how we are. I myself don’t know enough about mental illnesses therefore I don’t know how to act. There have been times where I just go about my business and people think me insensitive and if I avoid people with a clear mental illness then I am just one of many people. It’s the uncertainty that makes people uncomfortable.
9. Fo shizzle.
QUOTES to include/use
“The lunatic, the lover and the poet are of imagination all compact.” - Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream
'Highly intelligent and educated people have written arguments against treating such people, saying they need to be “free” to create. Madness, sickness, is romanticized as a muse. I have seen the reality. There is no freedom in mental illness or addiction. There is only deterioration, extreme emotional pain and, often, premature death. I have seen brilliant people go off medication and commit suicide, relapse in addiction and lose everything, including life. There is nothing romantic about it. It is only a sad, futile loss.' - Paul A. Hood, MS, LPC
http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/creativity_and_madness
'Men have called me mad; but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence-whether much that is glorious-whether all that is profound-does not spring from disease of thought-from moods of mind exalted at the expense of the general intellect.
They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night. In their grey vision they obtain glimpses of eternity.... They penetrate, however rudderless or compassless, into the vast ocean of the "light affable."' (Edgar Allan Poe, cited in Galloway, 1986, p. 243)
"No great genius was without a mixture of insanity" (Aristotle)
"Everything great in the world is created by neurotics. They have composed our masterpieces, but we don't consider what they have cost their creators in sleepless nights, and worst of all, fear of death." (Marcel Proust)
"Poetry led me by the hand out of madness" (Anne Sexton)
EXPLANATION FOR BIPOLAR BEING A DRIVING FORCE IN CREATIVITY (Healthy or not): "The expansive quality of the mood is characterized by unceasing and indiscriminate enthusiasm for interpersonal, sexual, or occupational interactions" (APA, 1994, p. 328).
"There is thus a thin but definite borderline between the most advanced and healthy type of thinking - creative thinking - and the most impoverished and pathological types of thinking - psychotic processes" (Albert Rothenberg)
"Two aspects of thinking in particular are pronounced in both creative and hypomanic thought: fluency, rapidity, and flexibility of thought on the one hand, and the ability to combine ideas or categories of thought in order to form new and original connections on the other" (Kay Jamison, 1993, p. 105).
I do strongly feel that among the greatest pieces of luck for high achievement is ordeal. Certain great artists can make out without it..., but mostly you need ordeal...My idea is this: The artist is extremely lucky who is presented with the worst possible ordeal which will not actually kill him. At that point, he's in business. Beethoven's deafness, Goya's deafness, Milton's blindness, that kind of thing. (John Berryman, Poet)
'Highly intelligent and educated people have written arguments against treating such people, saying they need to be “free” to create. Madness, sickness, is romanticized as a muse. I have seen the reality. There is no freedom in mental illness or addiction. There is only deterioration, extreme emotional pain and, often, premature death. I have seen brilliant people go off medication and commit suicide, relapse in addiction and lose everything, including life. There is nothing romantic about it. It is only a sad, futile loss.' - Paul A. Hood, MS, LPC
http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/creativity_and_madness
'Men have called me mad; but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence-whether much that is glorious-whether all that is profound-does not spring from disease of thought-from moods of mind exalted at the expense of the general intellect.
They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night. In their grey vision they obtain glimpses of eternity.... They penetrate, however rudderless or compassless, into the vast ocean of the "light affable."' (Edgar Allan Poe, cited in Galloway, 1986, p. 243)
"No great genius was without a mixture of insanity" (Aristotle)
"Everything great in the world is created by neurotics. They have composed our masterpieces, but we don't consider what they have cost their creators in sleepless nights, and worst of all, fear of death." (Marcel Proust)
"Poetry led me by the hand out of madness" (Anne Sexton)
EXPLANATION FOR BIPOLAR BEING A DRIVING FORCE IN CREATIVITY (Healthy or not): "The expansive quality of the mood is characterized by unceasing and indiscriminate enthusiasm for interpersonal, sexual, or occupational interactions" (APA, 1994, p. 328).
"There is thus a thin but definite borderline between the most advanced and healthy type of thinking - creative thinking - and the most impoverished and pathological types of thinking - psychotic processes" (Albert Rothenberg)
"Two aspects of thinking in particular are pronounced in both creative and hypomanic thought: fluency, rapidity, and flexibility of thought on the one hand, and the ability to combine ideas or categories of thought in order to form new and original connections on the other" (Kay Jamison, 1993, p. 105).
I do strongly feel that among the greatest pieces of luck for high achievement is ordeal. Certain great artists can make out without it..., but mostly you need ordeal...My idea is this: The artist is extremely lucky who is presented with the worst possible ordeal which will not actually kill him. At that point, he's in business. Beethoven's deafness, Goya's deafness, Milton's blindness, that kind of thing. (John Berryman, Poet)
A poem, by me, for p. 8
The shift finds me
Disoriented
Agitation gnaws at my foot
But my arteries throb harder, louder
And freeze.
It is nothing of any importance
To them at least
But the wheel begins to turn
Water is cycling now.
Dirty water, wild water
Violent and jarring, so that
The conductor spins around--
Arms flail madly.
Death maybe-- or madness
She said no
But perhaps just to tell me
And the water would calm.
News came through
Transistor of vocal vibrations
Then came the old pitter-pattering
On the tin above our heads.
Disoriented
Agitation gnaws at my foot
But my arteries throb harder, louder
And freeze.
It is nothing of any importance
To them at least
But the wheel begins to turn
Water is cycling now.
Dirty water, wild water
Violent and jarring, so that
The conductor spins around--
Arms flail madly.
Death maybe-- or madness
She said no
But perhaps just to tell me
And the water would calm.
News came through
Transistor of vocal vibrations
Then came the old pitter-pattering
On the tin above our heads.
Friday, November 12, 2010
POEMS BY SYLVIA PLATH
To be reviewed for inclusion and allusion:
---------------------------------------------------
Lady Lazarus
by Sylvia Plath
I have done it again.
One year in every ten
I manage it--
A sort of walking miracle, my skin
Bright as a Nazi lampshade,
My right foot
A paperweight,
My face featureless, fine
Jew linen.
Peel off the napkin
O my enemy.
Do I terrify?--
The nose, the eye pits, the full set of teeth?
The sour breath
Will vanish in a day.
Soon, soon the flesh
The grave cave ate will be
At home on me
And I a smiling woman.
I am only thirty.
And like the cat I have nine times to die.
This is Number Three.
What a trash
To annihilate each decade.
What a million filaments.
The peanut-crunching crowd
Shoves in to see
Them unwrap me hand and foot--
The big strip tease.
Gentlemen, ladies
These are my hands
My knees.
I may be skin and bone,
Nevertheless, I am the same, identical woman.
The first time it happened I was ten.
It was an accident.
The second time I meant
To last it out and not come back at all.
I rocked shut
As a seashell.
They had to call and call
And pick the worms off me like sticky pearls.
Dying
Is an art, like everything else.
I do it exceptionally well.
I do it so it feels like hell.
I do it so it feels real.
I guess you could say I've a call.
It's easy enough to do it in a cell.
It's easy enough to do it and stay put.
It's the theatrical
Comeback in broad day
To the same place, the same face, the same brute
Amused shout:
'A miracle!'
That knocks me out.
There is a charge
For the eyeing of my scars, there is a charge
For the hearing of my heart--
It really goes.
And there is a charge, a very large charge
For a word or a touch
Or a bit of blood
Or a piece of my hair or my clothes.
So, so, Herr Doktor.
So, Herr Enemy.
I am your opus,
I am your valuable,
The pure gold baby
That melts to a shriek.
I turn and burn.
Do not think I underestimate your great concern.
Ash, ash--
You poke and stir.
Flesh, bone, there is nothing there--
A cake of soap,
A wedding ring,
A gold filling.
Herr god, Herr Lucifer
Beware
Beware.
Out of the ash
I rise with my red hair
And I eat men like air.
--------------------------------------
Poem For A Birthday - The Stones
By Sylvia Plath
This is the city where men are mended.
I lie on a great anvil.
The flat blue sky-circle
Flew off like the hat of a doll
When I fell out of the light. I entered
The stomach of indifference, the wordless cupboard.
The mother of pestles diminished me.
I became a still pebble.
The stones of the belly were peaceable,
The head-stone quiet, jostled by nothing.
Only the mouth-hole piped out,
Importunate cricket
In a quarry of silences.
The people of the city heard it.
They hunted the stones, taciturn and separate,
The mouth-hole crying their locations.
Drunk as a foetus
I suck at the paps of darkness.
The food tubes embrace me. Sponges kiss my lichens away.
The jewelmaster drives his chisel to pry
Open one stone eye.
This is the after-hell: I see the light.
A wind unstoppers the chamber
Of the ear, old worrier.
Water mollifies the flint lip,
And daylight lays its sameness on the wall.
The grafters are cheerful,
Heating the pincers, hoisting the delicate hammers.
A current agitates the wires
Volt upon volt. Catgut stitches my fissures.
A workman walks by carrying a pink torso.
The storerooms are full of hearts.
This is the city of spare parts.
My swaddled legs and arms smell sweet as rubber.
Here they can doctor heads, or any limb.
On Fridays the little children come
To trade their hooks for hands.
Dead men leave eyes for others.
Love is the uniform of my bald nurse.
Love is the bone and sinew of my curse.
The vase, reconstructed, houses
The elusive rose.
Ten fingers shape a bowl for shadows.
My mendings itch. There is nothing to do.
I shall be good as new.
---------------------------------------------------
Lady Lazarus
by Sylvia Plath
I have done it again.
One year in every ten
I manage it--
A sort of walking miracle, my skin
Bright as a Nazi lampshade,
My right foot
A paperweight,
My face featureless, fine
Jew linen.
Peel off the napkin
O my enemy.
Do I terrify?--
The nose, the eye pits, the full set of teeth?
The sour breath
Will vanish in a day.
Soon, soon the flesh
The grave cave ate will be
At home on me
And I a smiling woman.
I am only thirty.
And like the cat I have nine times to die.
This is Number Three.
What a trash
To annihilate each decade.
What a million filaments.
The peanut-crunching crowd
Shoves in to see
Them unwrap me hand and foot--
The big strip tease.
Gentlemen, ladies
These are my hands
My knees.
I may be skin and bone,
Nevertheless, I am the same, identical woman.
The first time it happened I was ten.
It was an accident.
The second time I meant
To last it out and not come back at all.
I rocked shut
As a seashell.
They had to call and call
And pick the worms off me like sticky pearls.
Dying
Is an art, like everything else.
I do it exceptionally well.
I do it so it feels like hell.
I do it so it feels real.
I guess you could say I've a call.
It's easy enough to do it in a cell.
It's easy enough to do it and stay put.
It's the theatrical
Comeback in broad day
To the same place, the same face, the same brute
Amused shout:
'A miracle!'
That knocks me out.
There is a charge
For the eyeing of my scars, there is a charge
For the hearing of my heart--
It really goes.
And there is a charge, a very large charge
For a word or a touch
Or a bit of blood
Or a piece of my hair or my clothes.
So, so, Herr Doktor.
So, Herr Enemy.
I am your opus,
I am your valuable,
The pure gold baby
That melts to a shriek.
I turn and burn.
Do not think I underestimate your great concern.
Ash, ash--
You poke and stir.
Flesh, bone, there is nothing there--
A cake of soap,
A wedding ring,
A gold filling.
Herr god, Herr Lucifer
Beware
Beware.
Out of the ash
I rise with my red hair
And I eat men like air.
--------------------------------------
Poem For A Birthday - The Stones
By Sylvia Plath
This is the city where men are mended.
I lie on a great anvil.
The flat blue sky-circle
Flew off like the hat of a doll
When I fell out of the light. I entered
The stomach of indifference, the wordless cupboard.
The mother of pestles diminished me.
I became a still pebble.
The stones of the belly were peaceable,
The head-stone quiet, jostled by nothing.
Only the mouth-hole piped out,
Importunate cricket
In a quarry of silences.
The people of the city heard it.
They hunted the stones, taciturn and separate,
The mouth-hole crying their locations.
Drunk as a foetus
I suck at the paps of darkness.
The food tubes embrace me. Sponges kiss my lichens away.
The jewelmaster drives his chisel to pry
Open one stone eye.
This is the after-hell: I see the light.
A wind unstoppers the chamber
Of the ear, old worrier.
Water mollifies the flint lip,
And daylight lays its sameness on the wall.
The grafters are cheerful,
Heating the pincers, hoisting the delicate hammers.
A current agitates the wires
Volt upon volt. Catgut stitches my fissures.
A workman walks by carrying a pink torso.
The storerooms are full of hearts.
This is the city of spare parts.
My swaddled legs and arms smell sweet as rubber.
Here they can doctor heads, or any limb.
On Fridays the little children come
To trade their hooks for hands.
Dead men leave eyes for others.
Love is the uniform of my bald nurse.
Love is the bone and sinew of my curse.
The vase, reconstructed, houses
The elusive rose.
Ten fingers shape a bowl for shadows.
My mendings itch. There is nothing to do.
I shall be good as new.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
UPDATES.
So, as previously mentioned (I think), people asked for contributions unfortunately unreliable. So now I must write two extra articles. I have so far collected about four useable interviews; I am waiting on another three between which I shall decide to publish.
Also have asked some people to write a little paragraph about their thoughts on the issue: as below, one piece of prose from Josh. Also have been researching different psychological studies on creativity and mental illness.
Conclusions so far:
1. People have been thinking about this link for quite some time... see various quotes (soon to be published on blog)
2. Creatives throughout history have been EXPECTED oftentimes to be at least somewhat mad
3. One theory: creativity is an opportunity for people suffering mental illness to express themselves
4. Another theory: creatives and the mentally ill both follow similar thought paths; but certain coping mechanisms cause one to go down the path of destructive thinking, and the other down the path of creative thinking.
5. Yet another: the 'link' between mental illness and creativity, or the apparent higher incidence of mental illness amongst creatives, is pure human fabrication
CURRENT TASK: Researching/typing up articles: lives/works of E.A. Poe, Virginia Woolf, Vincent van Gogh, Daniel Johnston, Sylvia Plath
Also have asked some people to write a little paragraph about their thoughts on the issue: as below, one piece of prose from Josh. Also have been researching different psychological studies on creativity and mental illness.
Conclusions so far:
1. People have been thinking about this link for quite some time... see various quotes (soon to be published on blog)
2. Creatives throughout history have been EXPECTED oftentimes to be at least somewhat mad
3. One theory: creativity is an opportunity for people suffering mental illness to express themselves
4. Another theory: creatives and the mentally ill both follow similar thought paths; but certain coping mechanisms cause one to go down the path of destructive thinking, and the other down the path of creative thinking.
5. Yet another: the 'link' between mental illness and creativity, or the apparent higher incidence of mental illness amongst creatives, is pure human fabrication
CURRENT TASK: Researching/typing up articles: lives/works of E.A. Poe, Virginia Woolf, Vincent van Gogh, Daniel Johnston, Sylvia Plath
Monday, November 8, 2010
In Profiles, page 6
Madness the root, a presence that is felt.
Art and madness go hand in hand, brother and sister love it seems.
But to be an artist does that mean madness is present within your dreams?
What does being an artist actually mean?
What drives artistic kinds to explore their inner feelings?
Does it mean simply showing your heart in a form of controlled medium,
Expressing your bottled emotions on the likes of a large canvas?
Or exploding your inside madness all over the place,
Using uncontrollable paints and graphite?
Yes,
No,
Art is only a life form,
A small organism that lives in the big world.
But art can not survive on its own,
Needing simple nurture, love and a food source to grow.
To become what we know as art today,
The cultural experience that drives many lives.
The organism known as art is subjected to the nurture and love of a one said artist.
Like children, art in the early stages of production is highly influenced by the one who cares for and loves it.
Like children with crazy parents turn out crazy, art follows the same algorithm.
Crazy artists breed crazy art.
Sane artists breed sane art.
- Joshua Catanzariti
Art and madness go hand in hand, brother and sister love it seems.
But to be an artist does that mean madness is present within your dreams?
What does being an artist actually mean?
What drives artistic kinds to explore their inner feelings?
Does it mean simply showing your heart in a form of controlled medium,
Expressing your bottled emotions on the likes of a large canvas?
Or exploding your inside madness all over the place,
Using uncontrollable paints and graphite?
Yes,
No,
Art is only a life form,
A small organism that lives in the big world.
But art can not survive on its own,
Needing simple nurture, love and a food source to grow.
To become what we know as art today,
The cultural experience that drives many lives.
The organism known as art is subjected to the nurture and love of a one said artist.
Like children, art in the early stages of production is highly influenced by the one who cares for and loves it.
Like children with crazy parents turn out crazy, art follows the same algorithm.
Crazy artists breed crazy art.
Sane artists breed sane art.
- Joshua Catanzariti
WELCOME to PSYCHONIGHTMARE (PAGE 2)
Welcome to PSYCHONIGHTMARE, issue one. It is the brainchild of Catherine Claessens; a major project for her year 12 media class, the culmination of ideas that have been floating around in her head for a while now. Catherine is an artist, some-time writer and observer/recorder of art within life; occasional performance artist too.
Since watching films like The Hours, making friends who live with these conditions whilst expressing themselves creatively, and reading psychological studies, it was decided to make a whole zine exploring the idea of the connections between madness or mental illness, and creativity. Inspiration for making a zine is acknowledged to Grandma's House, as well as all other Canberra zine publications.
(IN HANDWRITING):
Person = x (sum of experience) + y (origin)
:. If x is of greater value than y, more creative processes are required to deal with life. If y is greater than x, then there is higher likelihood of 'stability' in the person.
(Joel Hollands)
So with this theory in mind, let us begin the journey...
Since watching films like The Hours, making friends who live with these conditions whilst expressing themselves creatively, and reading psychological studies, it was decided to make a whole zine exploring the idea of the connections between madness or mental illness, and creativity. Inspiration for making a zine is acknowledged to Grandma's House, as well as all other Canberra zine publications.
(IN HANDWRITING):
Person = x (sum of experience) + y (origin)
:. If x is of greater value than y, more creative processes are required to deal with life. If y is greater than x, then there is higher likelihood of 'stability' in the person.
(Joel Hollands)
So with this theory in mind, let us begin the journey...
NEW INTERVIEW: Dancer Boy (Joel)
1. Dancer Boy; my game is running... away... neicked!
2. Well yessss. But only insofar as creative people with it. Perfectly dull people can be mad.
3. I have sampled all the traditional creative expressions. I find painting and writing to be my favourite.
4. Once i had a hallucination about a flying ship. Now I am obsessed.
5. Yes, as it would produce, if nothing else, amusement.
6. Van Gogh; a mad troubled man who created such wonderful beautiful things.
7. Yes. None of your business.
8. Yes, because emos are fags (PSYCHONIGHTMARE does not endorse such statements as their own)
9. Everyone feels fear.
2. Well yessss. But only insofar as creative people with it. Perfectly dull people can be mad.
3. I have sampled all the traditional creative expressions. I find painting and writing to be my favourite.
4. Once i had a hallucination about a flying ship. Now I am obsessed.
5. Yes, as it would produce, if nothing else, amusement.
6. Van Gogh; a mad troubled man who created such wonderful beautiful things.
7. Yes. None of your business.
8. Yes, because emos are fags (PSYCHONIGHTMARE does not endorse such statements as their own)
9. Everyone feels fear.
NEW INTERVIEW
1. Hello there. What is your name, your game, and favourite Canberra haunt?
My name is Catherine. My game is exploring the art within life. Favourite haunt is the National Gallery, or any town park.
2. Do you think there are connections between mental illness and creativity? Why?
There certainly may. Not every creative has a mental illness, and not every mentally ill person is creative. But certainly humans have, for a long time, connected a certain ‘madness’ with people who express things creatively. Upon doing some reading, I think this could be because of the fine line that both separate groups tread, the line of deviant thought patterns that can lead down either the path of mental illness or to a product of creativity.
3. Do you practise any creative expression yourself?
Yes, I do. I am exploring performance art, practise visual art, and write poetry from time to time.
4. Any experiences with yourself or friends, regarding mental illness, which you can say had links or effects to the products of creativity?
I find my creativeness is always at its’ peak when I’m at a particular peak or trough of a mood. When I’ve been in total anguish, I produce things to express that feeling, and they always bring back the memory of that feeling. I can go through periods of depression, interspersed with periods of a really high/happy mood which also inspire or drive me on to create. As long as the emotions are strong, or my head is a mess, I seem to be more creatively driven, for better or worse. I have some friends who suffer severe depression or bipolar, and are almost always bursting with creativity.
5. Do you think there should be more research into the topic? Why?
Definitely. Many studies done so far produce very vague conclusions. If not an answer to the overall question, some conclusions on studies/experiments would be good. Creative people, I find, are usually interested in the processes of the mind; to know why there is this link made, and how to observe it, I think they, and many others will continue to be fascinated by.
6. Who comes to mind when you think of the topic? Thoughts on their experience/life?
Daniel Johnston, and Virginia Woolf. Woolf’s life was one of inner torture and frequent anguish. The evidence is in some of her writings. It is almost as if her life, living in the midst of a deep mental illness, was also an attempt to find a way out of her suffering. Unfortunately the ending of her life also meant the end of her writing; but much can be learnt from how her writing helped her express what was going on inside.
7. Do you have any theories as to why extreme episodes of mania and depression have influenced many artists’ works?
The episodes influence their works because they are intense feelings, or fast running or confused thoughts that need to be given some voice or expression. Sometimes in this form it can give the creator a sense of control over what otherwise would run wild, scaring or stimulating them and their thoughts. They also often need an outlet to escape from the suffering that comes with mental illness; somewhere to show what they feel at their own pace.
8. Do you think there is still a lot of stigma related to mental illness? Why?
I think there is. I think people can feel afraid of what it means. They don’t know what to expect because most of the time you can’t SEE it; you can only feel it, hear it, know it because of certain signs. It’s not like being physically ill. The stigma is being worn down thanks to people talking more about it and accepting people who suffer from it, rather than being exclusive.
9. Do you think that creatives may sometimes avoid that stigma due to the praise of their talents?
Quite possibly. Many people in the performing arts don’t express such issues; many of them seem to put up a mask to cover what’s really going on. Also it may be that the media prefers to see the product but not the ‘ugly’ side of it’s production.
My name is Catherine. My game is exploring the art within life. Favourite haunt is the National Gallery, or any town park.
2. Do you think there are connections between mental illness and creativity? Why?
There certainly may. Not every creative has a mental illness, and not every mentally ill person is creative. But certainly humans have, for a long time, connected a certain ‘madness’ with people who express things creatively. Upon doing some reading, I think this could be because of the fine line that both separate groups tread, the line of deviant thought patterns that can lead down either the path of mental illness or to a product of creativity.
3. Do you practise any creative expression yourself?
Yes, I do. I am exploring performance art, practise visual art, and write poetry from time to time.
4. Any experiences with yourself or friends, regarding mental illness, which you can say had links or effects to the products of creativity?
I find my creativeness is always at its’ peak when I’m at a particular peak or trough of a mood. When I’ve been in total anguish, I produce things to express that feeling, and they always bring back the memory of that feeling. I can go through periods of depression, interspersed with periods of a really high/happy mood which also inspire or drive me on to create. As long as the emotions are strong, or my head is a mess, I seem to be more creatively driven, for better or worse. I have some friends who suffer severe depression or bipolar, and are almost always bursting with creativity.
5. Do you think there should be more research into the topic? Why?
Definitely. Many studies done so far produce very vague conclusions. If not an answer to the overall question, some conclusions on studies/experiments would be good. Creative people, I find, are usually interested in the processes of the mind; to know why there is this link made, and how to observe it, I think they, and many others will continue to be fascinated by.
6. Who comes to mind when you think of the topic? Thoughts on their experience/life?
Daniel Johnston, and Virginia Woolf. Woolf’s life was one of inner torture and frequent anguish. The evidence is in some of her writings. It is almost as if her life, living in the midst of a deep mental illness, was also an attempt to find a way out of her suffering. Unfortunately the ending of her life also meant the end of her writing; but much can be learnt from how her writing helped her express what was going on inside.
7. Do you have any theories as to why extreme episodes of mania and depression have influenced many artists’ works?
The episodes influence their works because they are intense feelings, or fast running or confused thoughts that need to be given some voice or expression. Sometimes in this form it can give the creator a sense of control over what otherwise would run wild, scaring or stimulating them and their thoughts. They also often need an outlet to escape from the suffering that comes with mental illness; somewhere to show what they feel at their own pace.
8. Do you think there is still a lot of stigma related to mental illness? Why?
I think there is. I think people can feel afraid of what it means. They don’t know what to expect because most of the time you can’t SEE it; you can only feel it, hear it, know it because of certain signs. It’s not like being physically ill. The stigma is being worn down thanks to people talking more about it and accepting people who suffer from it, rather than being exclusive.
9. Do you think that creatives may sometimes avoid that stigma due to the praise of their talents?
Quite possibly. Many people in the performing arts don’t express such issues; many of them seem to put up a mask to cover what’s really going on. Also it may be that the media prefers to see the product but not the ‘ugly’ side of it’s production.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
THINGS NEEDED FOR ZINE: Checklist.
PAPER! Lots and lots of lovely paper.
1. Cover images (if not single illustration): - Sylvia Plath
- Virginia Woolf
- Vincent Van Gogh
- Daniel Johnston
2. Logo Design
3. Some sort of patterned thing for backgrounds
4. TEASER SUBTITLE
5. WELCOME to PSYCHONIGHTMARE
6. Contents : pages and so on
7. Portrait (headshot) of Sylvia Plath
8. Poem by Sylvia Plath (first feature)
9. EDITORIAL: Introduction
10. Headshots of me
11. Lead into issue (after editorial)
12. 8 people: image, contribution description, paragraph from each
13. FEATURE IMAGE: Daniel Johnston
14. Music score: Daniel Johnston
15. ARTICLE: Daniel Johnston
16. LYRICS: Song by Daniel Johnston
17. FEATURE ARTICLE: Madness/creativity
18. 6-8 quotes: Madness/creativity
19. Interview: Jess S.
20. Artwork: Van Gogh
21. Poem/quote: Van Gogh
22. 4 artworks by FEONA A.
23. NEW IMAGE of SYLVIA PLATH
24. Article: Sylvia Plath
25. 15 songs: to do with mental illness, madness, creativity
26. INTERVIEW: Simian
27. INTERVIEW: Joel
28. Photo: EDGAR A. POE (repeated x7)
29. ARTICLE: Poe
30. ARTWORK: Zac
31. INTERVIEW: Me
31. INTERVIEW: Marcel Bountrel
32. Poem by Plath: Dark House or other... (chosen by Jess S)
33. Vincent Van G's SELF PORTRAIT
34. ARTICLE: van Gogh
35. INTERVIEW no. 5: Shaanan or Ryan (+ image)
36. 3 or 4 'Hello, My name is' tags: introductions
37. Portrait of Virginia Woolf
38. ARTICLE: V. Woolf
39. Places to go for help list: names, functions, contact details
40. Thankyou page: names, websites, where to send feedback
41. Blown up image: Allen Poe's 'haunted eyes'
1. Cover images (if not single illustration): - Sylvia Plath
- Virginia Woolf
- Vincent Van Gogh
- Daniel Johnston
2. Logo Design
3. Some sort of patterned thing for backgrounds
4. TEASER SUBTITLE
5. WELCOME to PSYCHONIGHTMARE
6. Contents : pages and so on
7. Portrait (headshot) of Sylvia Plath
8. Poem by Sylvia Plath (first feature)
9. EDITORIAL: Introduction
10. Headshots of me
11. Lead into issue (after editorial)
12. 8 people: image, contribution description, paragraph from each
13. FEATURE IMAGE: Daniel Johnston
14. Music score: Daniel Johnston
15. ARTICLE: Daniel Johnston
16. LYRICS: Song by Daniel Johnston
17. FEATURE ARTICLE: Madness/creativity
18. 6-8 quotes: Madness/creativity
19. Interview: Jess S.
20. Artwork: Van Gogh
21. Poem/quote: Van Gogh
22. 4 artworks by FEONA A.
23. NEW IMAGE of SYLVIA PLATH
24. Article: Sylvia Plath
25. 15 songs: to do with mental illness, madness, creativity
26. INTERVIEW: Simian
27. INTERVIEW: Joel
28. Photo: EDGAR A. POE (repeated x7)
29. ARTICLE: Poe
30. ARTWORK: Zac
31. INTERVIEW: Me
31. INTERVIEW: Marcel Bountrel
32. Poem by Plath: Dark House or other... (chosen by Jess S)
33. Vincent Van G's SELF PORTRAIT
34. ARTICLE: van Gogh
35. INTERVIEW no. 5: Shaanan or Ryan (+ image)
36. 3 or 4 'Hello, My name is' tags: introductions
37. Portrait of Virginia Woolf
38. ARTICLE: V. Woolf
39. Places to go for help list: names, functions, contact details
40. Thankyou page: names, websites, where to send feedback
41. Blown up image: Allen Poe's 'haunted eyes'
NEW INTERVIEW: Anonymous
1. Hello there. What is your name, your game and favourite Canberra haunt?
Simian man, I don’t rightly know, and the ghosts in the garage. I sound pretentious already!
2. Do you think there are connections between mental illness and creativity? Why?
There are very definite connections, but that is not to say that creativity can’t flourish from anyone. Nonetheless, in my experience (through people I know and, begrudgingly, myself) people who have cases of anxiety, depression or other forms of mental illness often create artworks, music or writings of an apparently more abstract variety, creative works that aren’t often seen as conventional or normal by many people.
3. Do you practice any creative expression yourself?
I enjoy writing and drawing to an extent, but am not overly public with anything I do, nor do I think that I am very talented in those areas, and I like to keep it that way.
4. Any experiences with yourself or friends, regarding mental illness, which you can say had links or effects to the products of creativity?
Not really a friend or myself, but someone I know went through severe depression, leading them to spend a large portion of his life in a mental institution. He writes novels, short stories and other brilliant tidbits, all of which are highly descriptive and highly original. I don’t really like to believe that their mental problems lead to their abundance of creativity, but that sometimes seems to be the case.
6. Who comes to mind when you think of the topic? Thoughts on their life experience?
Daniel Johnston would be the first, as his artworks and songs all encapsulate feelings of despair and the thoughts behind a paranoid brain, he was a man whose world seemed to always be against him, and he drew inspiration from that.
7. Do you have any theories as to why extreme episodes of mania and depression have influenced many artists’ works?
Possibly because they bring out extreme thoughts and emotions, radical and new ideas that are screaming to be expressed.
8. Do you think there is still a lot of stigma related to mental illness? Why?
I don’t like to think there is, it’s an off-putting thought.
Simian man, I don’t rightly know, and the ghosts in the garage. I sound pretentious already!
2. Do you think there are connections between mental illness and creativity? Why?
There are very definite connections, but that is not to say that creativity can’t flourish from anyone. Nonetheless, in my experience (through people I know and, begrudgingly, myself) people who have cases of anxiety, depression or other forms of mental illness often create artworks, music or writings of an apparently more abstract variety, creative works that aren’t often seen as conventional or normal by many people.
3. Do you practice any creative expression yourself?
I enjoy writing and drawing to an extent, but am not overly public with anything I do, nor do I think that I am very talented in those areas, and I like to keep it that way.
4. Any experiences with yourself or friends, regarding mental illness, which you can say had links or effects to the products of creativity?
Not really a friend or myself, but someone I know went through severe depression, leading them to spend a large portion of his life in a mental institution. He writes novels, short stories and other brilliant tidbits, all of which are highly descriptive and highly original. I don’t really like to believe that their mental problems lead to their abundance of creativity, but that sometimes seems to be the case.
6. Who comes to mind when you think of the topic? Thoughts on their life experience?
Daniel Johnston would be the first, as his artworks and songs all encapsulate feelings of despair and the thoughts behind a paranoid brain, he was a man whose world seemed to always be against him, and he drew inspiration from that.
7. Do you have any theories as to why extreme episodes of mania and depression have influenced many artists’ works?
Possibly because they bring out extreme thoughts and emotions, radical and new ideas that are screaming to be expressed.
8. Do you think there is still a lot of stigma related to mental illness? Why?
I don’t like to think there is, it’s an off-putting thought.
NEW VERDICT ON INTERVIEW PROCESS.
I have a new conclusion for the publication of interviews: due to the long and short answers that vary between interviewees, as in the style of Australia's own Frankie magazine, I shall vary the questions/answers shown from each person. This also will provide some variety in the responses (so as the reader doesn't yawn and toss it to the fireplace...)
NEW INTERVIEW RECEIVED: From Jess S.
1. Hello there. What is your name, your game, and favourite Canberra haunt?
Jess Swan. My game is…being a student? But I like writing (short fiction). I don’t have a haunt for writing, do that at home, but I do like the Gallery for good times and inspiration.
2. Do you think there are connections between mental illness and creativity? Why?
Possibly. But I don’t think it’s an ‘always’ type thing. I don’t think all mentally ill people are creative and I don’t think all creative people need to have a mental illness in order to create. However, I think both cases are true for some people.
3. Do you practise any creative expression yourself?
Yes, I write short stories and have recently collaborated on a graphic novel.
4. Any experiences with yourself or friends, regarding mental illness, which you can say had links or effects to the products of creativity?
Not that I can think of.
5. Do you think there should be more research into the topic? Why?
I think so, yes. There are many well known creative people who have suffered from mental illness, so it would be interesting to see if there’s a link between the two.
6. Who comes to mind when you think of the topic? Thoughts on their experience/life?
Mostly female writers; Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, Virginia Woolf. I admire all these women enormously and I think it’s such a tragedy that they all chose to end their own lives.
7. Do you have any theories as to why extreme episodes of mania and depression have influenced many artists’ works?
I think there’s a lot of passion (not necessarily the good kind) associated with depression/mania, and to me it would seem natural for this feeling to spill over into the creative processes of a person. I think that’s the nature of some mental illnesses, to consume a person, so in a way the influence on their work is inescapable.
8. Do you think there is still a lot of stigma related to mental illness? Why?
Yeah, for sure. In different ways than previously though, perhaps. I think that the “emo” culture has in a way trivialised mental illness, so its ‘cool’ kind of. That’s still stigma, because the people that are actually suffering might not be taken seriously. I think there’s also a tendency to ignore or not want to acknowledge or deal with mental illness, and certainly the government perpetuates this trend.
9. Do you think that creatives may sometimes avoid that stigma due to the praise of their talents?
Yes, sometimes, although it’s hard to say whether that’s a good thing. Some people argue for instance that Sylvia Plath would not be nearly as famous if she had not lived a controversial life/death. Are her works still genius, or do people only like them for the drama?
Jess Swan. My game is…being a student? But I like writing (short fiction). I don’t have a haunt for writing, do that at home, but I do like the Gallery for good times and inspiration.
2. Do you think there are connections between mental illness and creativity? Why?
Possibly. But I don’t think it’s an ‘always’ type thing. I don’t think all mentally ill people are creative and I don’t think all creative people need to have a mental illness in order to create. However, I think both cases are true for some people.
3. Do you practise any creative expression yourself?
Yes, I write short stories and have recently collaborated on a graphic novel.
4. Any experiences with yourself or friends, regarding mental illness, which you can say had links or effects to the products of creativity?
Not that I can think of.
5. Do you think there should be more research into the topic? Why?
I think so, yes. There are many well known creative people who have suffered from mental illness, so it would be interesting to see if there’s a link between the two.
6. Who comes to mind when you think of the topic? Thoughts on their experience/life?
Mostly female writers; Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, Virginia Woolf. I admire all these women enormously and I think it’s such a tragedy that they all chose to end their own lives.
7. Do you have any theories as to why extreme episodes of mania and depression have influenced many artists’ works?
I think there’s a lot of passion (not necessarily the good kind) associated with depression/mania, and to me it would seem natural for this feeling to spill over into the creative processes of a person. I think that’s the nature of some mental illnesses, to consume a person, so in a way the influence on their work is inescapable.
8. Do you think there is still a lot of stigma related to mental illness? Why?
Yeah, for sure. In different ways than previously though, perhaps. I think that the “emo” culture has in a way trivialised mental illness, so its ‘cool’ kind of. That’s still stigma, because the people that are actually suffering might not be taken seriously. I think there’s also a tendency to ignore or not want to acknowledge or deal with mental illness, and certainly the government perpetuates this trend.
9. Do you think that creatives may sometimes avoid that stigma due to the praise of their talents?
Yes, sometimes, although it’s hard to say whether that’s a good thing. Some people argue for instance that Sylvia Plath would not be nearly as famous if she had not lived a controversial life/death. Are her works still genius, or do people only like them for the drama?
Monday, November 1, 2010
INTERVIEW PART TWO: Liam G.
1. Liam Graemeson, Lightning Fists, Probably my room... or Asgard
2. I'm not crazy... but I am creative. So no.
3. I write songs, i'm working on one now called 'Like Punt But With a C'.
4. NOPE!
5. YES! BECAUSE!
6. Because negative experiences make more interesting texts.
7. NOPE!
8. Well people nowadays tend to treat the downies, tards, and mongaloids with more respect
9. I DON'T KNOW!
--- This interview will be under review... concerning the politically incorrect content as seen above!
2. I'm not crazy... but I am creative. So no.
3. I write songs, i'm working on one now called 'Like Punt But With a C'.
4. NOPE!
5. YES! BECAUSE!
6. Because negative experiences make more interesting texts.
7. NOPE!
8. Well people nowadays tend to treat the downies, tards, and mongaloids with more respect
9. I DON'T KNOW!
--- This interview will be under review... concerning the politically incorrect content as seen above!
Interviews received back: part one: Marcel Bountrel.
1. Hello there. What is your name, your game, and favourite Canberra haunt?
Hello! My name is Marcel Bountrel, my game is selling recycled sandwiches of the most intrepid sort, you could say that sandwiches are my bread and butter *haha*
My favourite local haunts are here and there, sometimes even everywhere! But not once you see, that would just be silly.
2. Do you think there are connections between mental illness and creativity? Why?
Yes I do believe that there is a connection, I get the feeling that it has something to do with the intense emotional pressure and input/output that artists feel. There's no such thing as an apathetic artistic.
3. Do you practise any creative expression yourself?
Good gravy no! I would never practice that! Besides, you don't make much money from creative sandwiches. I mean, people would be too afraid to eat it and then it would go moldy and then what would I do?
4. Any experiences with yourself or friends, regarding mental illness, which you can say had links or effects to the products of creativity?
Well, no, I don't really know anyone like that. I mean, people like that aren't very interested in sandwiches, I deal more with the boring white collar classes.
5. Do you think there should be more research into the topic? Why?
There should definitely be more research into it! And less research in to the relationship between my sandwiches, mutation, zombification and global conflicts.
6. Who comes to mind when you think of the topic? Thoughts on their experience/life?
Daniel Johnston, Van Gogh and Dali come to mind, but then again, they're ALWAYS in my mind anyway, so it's hard to separate.
7. Do you have any theories as to why extreme episodes of mania and depression have influenced many artists’ works?
Because it's an outlet, the unspoken and uncomprehensible are given voice and light in art. I think that's why.
8. Do you think there is still a lot of stigma related to mental illness? Why?
There will always be stigma towards it, people simply just don't understand it, like they don't understand a good folk melody hummed through a bottle of cream cheese.
9. Do you think that creatives may sometimes avoid that stigma due to the praise of their talents?
I most certainly do agree! Fame let's you get away with quite a lot methinks, even madness.
Cheerio!
Hello! My name is Marcel Bountrel, my game is selling recycled sandwiches of the most intrepid sort, you could say that sandwiches are my bread and butter *haha*
My favourite local haunts are here and there, sometimes even everywhere! But not once you see, that would just be silly.
2. Do you think there are connections between mental illness and creativity? Why?
Yes I do believe that there is a connection, I get the feeling that it has something to do with the intense emotional pressure and input/output that artists feel. There's no such thing as an apathetic artistic.
3. Do you practise any creative expression yourself?
Good gravy no! I would never practice that! Besides, you don't make much money from creative sandwiches. I mean, people would be too afraid to eat it and then it would go moldy and then what would I do?
4. Any experiences with yourself or friends, regarding mental illness, which you can say had links or effects to the products of creativity?
Well, no, I don't really know anyone like that. I mean, people like that aren't very interested in sandwiches, I deal more with the boring white collar classes.
5. Do you think there should be more research into the topic? Why?
There should definitely be more research into it! And less research in to the relationship between my sandwiches, mutation, zombification and global conflicts.
6. Who comes to mind when you think of the topic? Thoughts on their experience/life?
Daniel Johnston, Van Gogh and Dali come to mind, but then again, they're ALWAYS in my mind anyway, so it's hard to separate.
7. Do you have any theories as to why extreme episodes of mania and depression have influenced many artists’ works?
Because it's an outlet, the unspoken and uncomprehensible are given voice and light in art. I think that's why.
8. Do you think there is still a lot of stigma related to mental illness? Why?
There will always be stigma towards it, people simply just don't understand it, like they don't understand a good folk melody hummed through a bottle of cream cheese.
9. Do you think that creatives may sometimes avoid that stigma due to the praise of their talents?
I most certainly do agree! Fame let's you get away with quite a lot methinks, even madness.
Cheerio!
tuesdays are fine, fine days, honey.
And so: an update on progression so far.
I am researching the lives of Daniel Johnston, Edgar Allen Poe, and Virginia Woolf. Also found an article yesterday which will prove to be extremely useful; a psychological essay on the historical links between creativity and madness ( sounds contradictory in subject matter but it really is brilliant). Will be posting highlights and key points of that essay following here. Need to do some more research on psychologocial and psychoanalytical evidence of various things to do with subject; statistics, research is quite important.
ALSO I have some contributors that are in need of contacting again for material:
1. Jessica S: an article/ pictures/ poetry on Sylvia Plath
2. Zachary D: a ramble type article
3. Feona A: Images, experience write up
Also found an article in the new issue of frankie, written by Rowena Grant-Frost, concerning her struggle with an anxiety disorder. Thus am trying to find contact details, so I can kindly ask for a couple of paragraphs on her experience, or quote bits from said article. Grant-Frost is a wonderful journalist, besides.
Nextly, I am also rounding up interview responses. Due to the alternative nature of the Zine, in which the codes and conventions of magazines are all mixed around a bit, I have also used an alternative interview process. Each interviewee has received a paper with all my questions: the interviewee is free to answer all, or less of the questions as they wish. They are to write their answers all over the paper if possible. Think I will try cutting out pieces of interviewee's handwriting to glue on typed-up answers in final product. This will add quirk/personality to the responses. The theme of the zine is, after all, quite personal.
Also one of the interviews, I think, will be very interesting; one of my interviewees today said he wanted to change his answers, before he gave them to me, because he was uncomfortable with the truth. This kind of showed me how the dynamics of the interview have changed in this instance; the interviewee is far more free to lie or act, but they will not be pressed for it. However that kind of truth will add a great deal of authenticity to PSYCHONIGHTMARE, I think.
Also am going to start printing pictures etc to begin arranging: pictures of/by Johnston, Woolf, Plath, Poe etc. Also have the Diana f+ photos of some of my interviewees, which must be photocopied. Also photos on normal camera must be printed.
Finally, I really need to keep writing those articles!! AND draw some images/gather poetry for front/back cover and so on. Need patterns, and so on. Even psychedelic ones.
I am researching the lives of Daniel Johnston, Edgar Allen Poe, and Virginia Woolf. Also found an article yesterday which will prove to be extremely useful; a psychological essay on the historical links between creativity and madness ( sounds contradictory in subject matter but it really is brilliant). Will be posting highlights and key points of that essay following here. Need to do some more research on psychologocial and psychoanalytical evidence of various things to do with subject; statistics, research is quite important.
ALSO I have some contributors that are in need of contacting again for material:
1. Jessica S: an article/ pictures/ poetry on Sylvia Plath
2. Zachary D: a ramble type article
3. Feona A: Images, experience write up
Also found an article in the new issue of frankie, written by Rowena Grant-Frost, concerning her struggle with an anxiety disorder. Thus am trying to find contact details, so I can kindly ask for a couple of paragraphs on her experience, or quote bits from said article. Grant-Frost is a wonderful journalist, besides.
Nextly, I am also rounding up interview responses. Due to the alternative nature of the Zine, in which the codes and conventions of magazines are all mixed around a bit, I have also used an alternative interview process. Each interviewee has received a paper with all my questions: the interviewee is free to answer all, or less of the questions as they wish. They are to write their answers all over the paper if possible. Think I will try cutting out pieces of interviewee's handwriting to glue on typed-up answers in final product. This will add quirk/personality to the responses. The theme of the zine is, after all, quite personal.
Also one of the interviews, I think, will be very interesting; one of my interviewees today said he wanted to change his answers, before he gave them to me, because he was uncomfortable with the truth. This kind of showed me how the dynamics of the interview have changed in this instance; the interviewee is far more free to lie or act, but they will not be pressed for it. However that kind of truth will add a great deal of authenticity to PSYCHONIGHTMARE, I think.
Also am going to start printing pictures etc to begin arranging: pictures of/by Johnston, Woolf, Plath, Poe etc. Also have the Diana f+ photos of some of my interviewees, which must be photocopied. Also photos on normal camera must be printed.
Finally, I really need to keep writing those articles!! AND draw some images/gather poetry for front/back cover and so on. Need patterns, and so on. Even psychedelic ones.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Slide-Show presentation for seminar: many months ago
THE SLIDE SHOW (In list form) USED TO ACCOMPANY MY ORAL PRESENTATION/PITCH FOR PSYCHONIGHTMARE. EXPLAINING WHAT A ZINE IS, EXAMPLES OF ZINES, CODES AND CONVENTIONS TYPICAL TO THEM, AND WHAT I AM GOING TO DO.
1. What is a zine?
Short: ‘fanzine’
‘Democratic’ media; flexible conventions
Distributed in independent shops, public places- credit for creativity
Sold for small price or free
Frequently one-off publications, sometimes become formal publication for years to come
2. Technical codes + conventions
Front/back cover: description of content, art or photography (style of publication)
1st page: editorial 2nd page: contents
Many zine-makers use hand-drawn titles etc
Whatever the content, must include art & contributions from locals
Opinions are often a running feature!
Sometimes palm-size conceptual art
3. How are they made?
1. Collect info/contributions
2. Conduct interviews/take photos/draw
3. Arrange items on photocopier; sort out order of pages
4. Photocopy like a madwoman
5. Staple in the middle parts
6. Distribute!
4. Examples of zines:
Grandma’s House
First World Youth Culture Problems to be Addressed
EATYRSELFF
5. So my zine?
‘PSYCHO NIGHTMARE.’
Links between madness and creativity; the history
Examples of famous ‘creatives’
Interviews with these people (original and sourced)
Opinions from locals + others
Contributions: locals and myself
A competition
6. Photos: Diana F+ Lomo camera
Minimum 10 copies; to be distributed
Colour or not: still to be decided (money wise)
THE FRONT COVER: needs to feature
A) Title of zine
B) Artwork
C) Brief overview of features (optional)
D)Volume no./date
-- These all catch the reader’s eye and curiosity!
Madness and Creativity - Patrick Gale
Author Patrick Gale's experience of creativity and ideas on the links with mental illness; an excerpt from a book of his, about a female artist who suffers from bipolar disorder.
Including some excerpts from this in PSYCHONIGHTMARE.
Including some excerpts from this in PSYCHONIGHTMARE.
Creativity and Mental Illness - Professor Paul Crawford
A question to be asking in the zine: WHY are people so interested in the idea that there is a LINK between creativity and mental illness? Perhaps a certain madness always comes hand in hand with creativity- but mental illness is something independent, sometimes resulting?
What is the history of the research into the topic?
What is the history of the research into the topic?
Monday, October 11, 2010
http://www.apa.org/monitor/nov03/creativity.aspx
What exactly is creativity?
Psychologists continue their quest to better understand creativity.
By KAREN KERSTING
Monitor Staff
November 2003, Vol 34, No. 10
Print version: page 40
In the same sense, artists tend to show higher rates of mental illness and related symptoms than the average population, Simonton says, citing numerous empirical studies, including recent work by Arnold Ludwig, PhD, Kay Jamison, PhD, and James Kaufman, PhD (see page 42). "If you look just within the arts, there are styles that are very realistic and more expressionistic--the more expressionistic the art form, the more likely the artist is to have a mental illness," he says. (Dean Keith Simonton)
What exactly is creativity?
Psychologists continue their quest to better understand creativity.
By KAREN KERSTING
Monitor Staff
November 2003, Vol 34, No. 10
Print version: page 40
In the same sense, artists tend to show higher rates of mental illness and related symptoms than the average population, Simonton says, citing numerous empirical studies, including recent work by Arnold Ludwig, PhD, Kay Jamison, PhD, and James Kaufman, PhD (see page 42). "If you look just within the arts, there are styles that are very realistic and more expressionistic--the more expressionistic the art form, the more likely the artist is to have a mental illness," he says. (Dean Keith Simonton)
ARTICLE: new idea for editorial, aim of zine
Found this article today: it changes how I need to approach the subject. Because this psychologist in particular believes, due to research, that creativity and mental illness are not directly linked, I cannot use that theme in the wording it currently has. The approach PSYCHONIGHTMARE will take from here on in is that creative people are more likely to experience mental illness, but it doesn't necessarily impact positively on their work- obviously they can draw on those experiences to contribute to their products.
(American Psychological Association)
http://www.apa.org/monitor/nov03/plath.aspx
The 'Sylvia Plath' effect
Questions swirl around a supposed link between creativity and mental illness.
By DEBORAH SMITH BAILEY
Monitor Staff
November 2003, Vol 34, No. 10
Print version: page 42
Popular culture has long stereotyped poets as depressed and creative scientists as mad. In fact, the idea of a link between creativity and mental illness goes back to the time of Aristotle, when he wrote that eminent philosophers, politicians, poets and artists all have tendencies toward "melancholia."
Indeed, there are numerous examples of famous creators--writers like Virginia Woolf, painters like Vincent Van Gogh, composers like Robert Schumann--who have been highly successful but had or are suspected to have had a mental illness.
Some studies have backed up this notion, suggesting that writers, artists and others are more likely to have a mental illness and that people with certain mental illnesses, such as depression and mood disorders, appear somewhat more likely to be creative. While some researchers have found that creative people are slightly more at-risk, others have found more grave connections, such as that they are 30 percent more likely to have bipolar disorder.
However, such research is often fraught with methodological problems, including selection bias, controls that are not blinded, reliance on biographies that might play up mental illness, retrospective designs and unclear definitions of creativity. And considering that not all studies have found a link between creativity and mental illness, the jury is still out on the specific nature of the relationship, says psychologist and creativity researcher James Kaufman, PhD, of California State University, San Bernardino.
Still, the findings raise interesting questions about the relationship between mental illness and creativity, including:
Does creativity cause mental illness? There isn't a link between mental illness and the actual process of creating, says psychiatrist Albert Rothenberg, MD, of Harvard Medical School, who has studied Nobel laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners and other highly creative individuals. Rather, he argues that mental illnesses such as anxiety, thought disorder and depression disrupt the cognitive and emotional processes necessary for successful creativity.
In fact, in his book, "Creativity and Madness: New Findings and Old Stereotypes" (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1990), Rothenberg proposes that highly creative people do better when they are treated for their mental illnesses.
"That doesn't mean people who create haven't often had mental illnesses," he adds, but that their subject matter and the field they are in perhaps have more bearing on their mental health than creativity itself.
Does the type of creativity matter? Creative people in the artistic professions are more likely to have a mental illness than those in less artistic professions, such as science and business, according to research by Arnold M. Ludwig, MD, in his book, "The Price of Greatness" (Guilford, 1995).
Moreover, in a more recent retrospective study of 1,629 writers, Kaufman found that poets--and in particular female poets --were more likely than fiction writers, nonfiction writers and playwrights to have signs of mental illness, such as suicide attempts or psychiatric hospitalizations.
In a second analysis of 520 eminent American women, he again found that poets were more likely to have mental illnesses and to experience personal tragedy than eminent journalists, visual artists, politicians and actresses--a finding Kaufman has dubbed "the Sylvia Plath effect" after the noted poet who had depression and eventually committed suicide. The findings appear in The Journal of Creative Behavior (Vol. 35, No. 1).
Are creative people's motivations a factor? Kaufman and psychologist John Baer, PhD, of Rider University, theorize in the Review of General Psychology (Vol. 6, No. 3) that creative people--specifically, eminent female poets--may be more prone to mental illness if they are more vulnerable to extrinsic motivational constraints, such as interpersonal relationships.
Valuing such external factors may harm poets' mental health, they speculate, because high levels of creativity require people to "defy the crowd" and ignore what other people think. That means eminent writing could produce more stress--leading to a higher incidence of mental illness.
Could the stigma of mental illness be a factor? "In the fields of art and literature and music, there is much more toleration of mental illness than there is in the rest of society," explains Rothenberg. That might allow people with mental illnesses to climb the ranks of poetry in a way they couldn't have in business.How does creative writing interact with mental illness? In several studies, University of Texas at Austin psychologist James Pennebaker, PhD, has found positive health and mental health benefits from writing--but only when the writer crafts a narrative or makes connections between thought and feelings. Kaufman theorizes that poets may not garner the same benefits from writing that other writers do because poems seldom form a narrative.
However, Pennebaker cautions that there is no data yet that proves that poetry writing isn't beneficial. "It's very possible that writing poetry may have kept Sylvia Plath alive longer than she would have," he says. "One of the counterarguments is that being in poetry is a real tough way to make a living. There are very few jobs that have a higher rejection rate."
(American Psychological Association)
http://www.apa.org/monitor/nov03/plath.aspx
The 'Sylvia Plath' effect
Questions swirl around a supposed link between creativity and mental illness.
By DEBORAH SMITH BAILEY
Monitor Staff
November 2003, Vol 34, No. 10
Print version: page 42
Popular culture has long stereotyped poets as depressed and creative scientists as mad. In fact, the idea of a link between creativity and mental illness goes back to the time of Aristotle, when he wrote that eminent philosophers, politicians, poets and artists all have tendencies toward "melancholia."
Indeed, there are numerous examples of famous creators--writers like Virginia Woolf, painters like Vincent Van Gogh, composers like Robert Schumann--who have been highly successful but had or are suspected to have had a mental illness.
Some studies have backed up this notion, suggesting that writers, artists and others are more likely to have a mental illness and that people with certain mental illnesses, such as depression and mood disorders, appear somewhat more likely to be creative. While some researchers have found that creative people are slightly more at-risk, others have found more grave connections, such as that they are 30 percent more likely to have bipolar disorder.
However, such research is often fraught with methodological problems, including selection bias, controls that are not blinded, reliance on biographies that might play up mental illness, retrospective designs and unclear definitions of creativity. And considering that not all studies have found a link between creativity and mental illness, the jury is still out on the specific nature of the relationship, says psychologist and creativity researcher James Kaufman, PhD, of California State University, San Bernardino.
Still, the findings raise interesting questions about the relationship between mental illness and creativity, including:
Does creativity cause mental illness? There isn't a link between mental illness and the actual process of creating, says psychiatrist Albert Rothenberg, MD, of Harvard Medical School, who has studied Nobel laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners and other highly creative individuals. Rather, he argues that mental illnesses such as anxiety, thought disorder and depression disrupt the cognitive and emotional processes necessary for successful creativity.
In fact, in his book, "Creativity and Madness: New Findings and Old Stereotypes" (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1990), Rothenberg proposes that highly creative people do better when they are treated for their mental illnesses.
"That doesn't mean people who create haven't often had mental illnesses," he adds, but that their subject matter and the field they are in perhaps have more bearing on their mental health than creativity itself.
Does the type of creativity matter? Creative people in the artistic professions are more likely to have a mental illness than those in less artistic professions, such as science and business, according to research by Arnold M. Ludwig, MD, in his book, "The Price of Greatness" (Guilford, 1995).
Moreover, in a more recent retrospective study of 1,629 writers, Kaufman found that poets--and in particular female poets --were more likely than fiction writers, nonfiction writers and playwrights to have signs of mental illness, such as suicide attempts or psychiatric hospitalizations.
In a second analysis of 520 eminent American women, he again found that poets were more likely to have mental illnesses and to experience personal tragedy than eminent journalists, visual artists, politicians and actresses--a finding Kaufman has dubbed "the Sylvia Plath effect" after the noted poet who had depression and eventually committed suicide. The findings appear in The Journal of Creative Behavior (Vol. 35, No. 1).
Are creative people's motivations a factor? Kaufman and psychologist John Baer, PhD, of Rider University, theorize in the Review of General Psychology (Vol. 6, No. 3) that creative people--specifically, eminent female poets--may be more prone to mental illness if they are more vulnerable to extrinsic motivational constraints, such as interpersonal relationships.
Valuing such external factors may harm poets' mental health, they speculate, because high levels of creativity require people to "defy the crowd" and ignore what other people think. That means eminent writing could produce more stress--leading to a higher incidence of mental illness.
Could the stigma of mental illness be a factor? "In the fields of art and literature and music, there is much more toleration of mental illness than there is in the rest of society," explains Rothenberg. That might allow people with mental illnesses to climb the ranks of poetry in a way they couldn't have in business.How does creative writing interact with mental illness? In several studies, University of Texas at Austin psychologist James Pennebaker, PhD, has found positive health and mental health benefits from writing--but only when the writer crafts a narrative or makes connections between thought and feelings. Kaufman theorizes that poets may not garner the same benefits from writing that other writers do because poems seldom form a narrative.
However, Pennebaker cautions that there is no data yet that proves that poetry writing isn't beneficial. "It's very possible that writing poetry may have kept Sylvia Plath alive longer than she would have," he says. "One of the counterarguments is that being in poetry is a real tough way to make a living. There are very few jobs that have a higher rejection rate."
Monday, September 13, 2010
Some plans.
WHAT to do?
'What is this Madness?'
1. Editorial: What is 'madness' in history, today?
2. Famous mad characters: Sylvia Plath, Daniel Johnston, Allen Ginsberg...
3. How did their 'madness' affect their creativity? DID it?
4. not seeking to come to a conclusion about madness and creative types (not a scientist, only an analyst of various things). Can only explore idea of connections; where is line drawn between plain madness and mental illness? IS there a difference? Is it necessary to be mad to be a great artist or writer? Who or what is really NORMAL?
CREATIVES.
1. E. A. Poe
2. Daniel Johnston
3. Sylvia Plath-- being written by Jess Swan
4. Vincent van Gogh
5. Virginia Woolf
INCLUDE PRODUCTS OF CREATIVITY: lyrics, poems, images...
QUOTES PAGES...
'Research strongly suggests that, compared with the general population, writers and artists show a vastly disproportionate rate of manic-depressive or depressive illness,' - Kay Redfield Jamison, 'Touched with Fire', 1993
In my view, most madmen are remarkable. They’re explorers, travelers beyond the rim of consciousness. Not surprising if they pick up a few bugs and get sick. That’s all it is, madness. Mad just means sick. If you get fluid on the lungs it’s pleurisy. If it’s fluid on the brain, it’s insanity. –Clare Boylan, Beloved Stranger
SONGS-- list of. Related to these kinds of things.
Article (self written): creative madness, proven by whom etc.?
QUOTES on these kinds of things.
PICTURES: Art from periods of depression, mania etc.
FILM REVIEWS: The Hours, The Devil and Daniel Johnston etc....?
Street interviews: thoughts on creatives w/ mental illness or slightly mad? Is the mental illness an influence? Do you think it's healthy to utilise that? -- Use Diana F+ for portraits IF POSSIBLE (do 3!)
LOCAL creatives for interviews: ever suffered periods of mental illness?? Examples of their art etc. opinions. (do 3!)
LIST: Little Ways to Wellness: some meditations, good teas, places to go, things to do etc.
PLACES to call-- for help!
DEADLINE for submissions: 1 November
'What is this Madness?'
1. Editorial: What is 'madness' in history, today?
2. Famous mad characters: Sylvia Plath, Daniel Johnston, Allen Ginsberg...
3. How did their 'madness' affect their creativity? DID it?
4. not seeking to come to a conclusion about madness and creative types (not a scientist, only an analyst of various things). Can only explore idea of connections; where is line drawn between plain madness and mental illness? IS there a difference? Is it necessary to be mad to be a great artist or writer? Who or what is really NORMAL?
CREATIVES.
1. E. A. Poe
2. Daniel Johnston
3. Sylvia Plath-- being written by Jess Swan
4. Vincent van Gogh
5. Virginia Woolf
INCLUDE PRODUCTS OF CREATIVITY: lyrics, poems, images...
QUOTES PAGES...
'Research strongly suggests that, compared with the general population, writers and artists show a vastly disproportionate rate of manic-depressive or depressive illness,' - Kay Redfield Jamison, 'Touched with Fire', 1993
In my view, most madmen are remarkable. They’re explorers, travelers beyond the rim of consciousness. Not surprising if they pick up a few bugs and get sick. That’s all it is, madness. Mad just means sick. If you get fluid on the lungs it’s pleurisy. If it’s fluid on the brain, it’s insanity. –Clare Boylan, Beloved Stranger
SONGS-- list of. Related to these kinds of things.
Article (self written): creative madness, proven by whom etc.?
QUOTES on these kinds of things.
PICTURES: Art from periods of depression, mania etc.
FILM REVIEWS: The Hours, The Devil and Daniel Johnston etc....?
Street interviews: thoughts on creatives w/ mental illness or slightly mad? Is the mental illness an influence? Do you think it's healthy to utilise that? -- Use Diana F+ for portraits IF POSSIBLE (do 3!)
LOCAL creatives for interviews: ever suffered periods of mental illness?? Examples of their art etc. opinions. (do 3!)
LIST: Little Ways to Wellness: some meditations, good teas, places to go, things to do etc.
PLACES to call-- for help!
DEADLINE for submissions: 1 November
Monday, August 16, 2010
Beginning ideas! The overview.
My name is Catherine Claessens; this is my blog of the planning, production and post-production of my zine, Psycho Nightmare. The plans below have changed: the zine, named after a song by Daniel Johnston, will (in this issue) cover the theme of the connections between mental illness and creativity. Therefore, artwork etc. will be included, as well as interviews etc. BELOW is my original proposal.
--------
For this semester’s Process to Production assignment, I have chosen to create the first edition of a ‘zine’; as yet I am unsure of the name. As in the tradition of ‘zines’ (short for ‘fanzines’), I will likely put together all the content using a photocopier. The theme will be arts-based, with some experimentalism involved. Also, there will be at least a few pieces on interesting things to do in Canberra. I have chosen to do this project based on a few factors:
1. I have a good skill for writing, including reports and essays, as well as creatively; this I can utlilise with a print project.
2. I am an artist and have many artist friends, as well as connections within the industry; this will be helpful for interviews, reviews, illustrations etc.
3. Having picked up many zines in the past, I have a good idea of what they are about and involve; already I’ve had experience writing for two zines, ‘Grandma’s House’ and ‘Project512Mag’.
4. It is greatly in my interest to create a magazine full of unusual thing such as poetry, interviews, reviews and other stories; many people regard Canberra as a boring, lifeless place- and this is a mission to prove that, with a little effort/exploration, that is not true.
5. This project is viable for me, and I am passionate about it; I am already interested in the aspects involved in the magazine, know many people to whom I can go to ask for contributions, and am excited about the opportunity to create my own magazine.
The support I will need: I will need the help of contributors first off- these may include photographers, poets, writers, artists, musicians, bands etc. I already know a few of these, and am sure an interview will be possible. Also, as I’m thinking of including some e.g. Dada poetry, recipes- I will need to find out if copyrights apply to those items. The contributions I am going to start planning (the ones that I myself am producing), and requesting, straight away; I will create a deadline for about week 6 or 7.
I may need another student to help with organising the pages to suit the proper order; however, here I can probably call upon the friends I know who already regularly produce zines of their own for this. Another practical issue may be the stapling, and distribution- this zine will be distributed as a real issue in various venues.
Equipment I envision needing: -A camera (more likely my own) - A Lomo camera (for photography/interview/personal project feature) - Lighting props
- Costume for photography? - Photocopier - White A4 paper (to make A5 zine) -Long stapler - Voice recorder (for interviews) - Folder to keep physical things organised - Computer files to keep everything saved etc.
I will need the camera/s, writing tools etc. straight away to begin collecting the input; however the other items such as the photocopier will not be needed until the final stages- estimated to be in the last 3 weeks of the assessment.
--------
For this semester’s Process to Production assignment, I have chosen to create the first edition of a ‘zine’; as yet I am unsure of the name. As in the tradition of ‘zines’ (short for ‘fanzines’), I will likely put together all the content using a photocopier. The theme will be arts-based, with some experimentalism involved. Also, there will be at least a few pieces on interesting things to do in Canberra. I have chosen to do this project based on a few factors:
1. I have a good skill for writing, including reports and essays, as well as creatively; this I can utlilise with a print project.
2. I am an artist and have many artist friends, as well as connections within the industry; this will be helpful for interviews, reviews, illustrations etc.
3. Having picked up many zines in the past, I have a good idea of what they are about and involve; already I’ve had experience writing for two zines, ‘Grandma’s House’ and ‘Project512Mag’.
4. It is greatly in my interest to create a magazine full of unusual thing such as poetry, interviews, reviews and other stories; many people regard Canberra as a boring, lifeless place- and this is a mission to prove that, with a little effort/exploration, that is not true.
5. This project is viable for me, and I am passionate about it; I am already interested in the aspects involved in the magazine, know many people to whom I can go to ask for contributions, and am excited about the opportunity to create my own magazine.
The support I will need: I will need the help of contributors first off- these may include photographers, poets, writers, artists, musicians, bands etc. I already know a few of these, and am sure an interview will be possible. Also, as I’m thinking of including some e.g. Dada poetry, recipes- I will need to find out if copyrights apply to those items. The contributions I am going to start planning (the ones that I myself am producing), and requesting, straight away; I will create a deadline for about week 6 or 7.
I may need another student to help with organising the pages to suit the proper order; however, here I can probably call upon the friends I know who already regularly produce zines of their own for this. Another practical issue may be the stapling, and distribution- this zine will be distributed as a real issue in various venues.
Equipment I envision needing: -A camera (more likely my own) - A Lomo camera (for photography/interview/personal project feature) - Lighting props
- Costume for photography? - Photocopier - White A4 paper (to make A5 zine) -Long stapler - Voice recorder (for interviews) - Folder to keep physical things organised - Computer files to keep everything saved etc.
I will need the camera/s, writing tools etc. straight away to begin collecting the input; however the other items such as the photocopier will not be needed until the final stages- estimated to be in the last 3 weeks of the assessment.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)