Alexander Marra
Outsider
Art: The Art of the Insane
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People
have been fascinated with the insane, and, consequently, with their art,
really since the dawn of psychology as a legitimate field of study. In the
late 19th century, psychology distinguished itself from physiology and other
sciences, as Freud was making breakthroughs in the inner-workings of the
mind, particularly with the development of the theory of the conscious and
subconscious as distinct pieces of the psyche. Coinciding with this were the
changes occurring in the evolution of modern art. Artists were ever more
leaving behind the academia-style art and were beginning to favor a less
realistic approach, (as they had for at least a century by this time) and
moving with and even from what was already radical, impressionism, and
eventually delved into surrealism.
Their new taste in art stressed the free flow of spontaneous thoughts, essentially making art that wasn’t planned. Abstraction was more common since there was no reason to paint accurate depictions as the photographs were doing just fine with that. Also, with this abstraction, came an interest in art that was unpolluted from the constraints and ideals of society. A free, unique independent art came about, that looked to the children and “primitives” for direction, instead of the schools. With these inspirations came the fascination with the insane, who were also considered more natural and free in their art, like the children and “primitives.” These people, who were shielded from corruption by society as they were imprisoned in their own minds, were unable to correspond with society in a manner that the sane do. In addition, their being locked up in mental “hospitals” in large numbers at this time contributed to their physical isolation. Thus, definitely not producing art for money’s sake, nor for fame, nor for any reason previously known to artists, the insane art was purer than ever. The insane “create solely to externalize their internal visions and to satisfy their own internal needs (Delamonthe 1301).” The insane aren’t even aware they are making art many times. Beginning in the 19th century, insane art was not only observed, it was promoted. While Freudians swarmed them to learn about the abnormal mind, artists watched as the therapists encouraged art as a way to relinquish stressors and also as a materialistic insight into the strange workings of their disturbed minds, in hopes of finding a cure. Despite Plato seeing a connection between creativity and insanity, and this same belief affirmed by the Renaissance artists, it lay dormant for a couple hundred years before resurfacing during the 19th century. By today, people now realize that the line between genius and insane can be so incredibly fine. Who is to say that Vincent Van Gogh was not an “outsider” (as these social recluses are now called by the art community)? Or what about the great prose of Edgar Allan Poe? We now think he had a fight with insanity too, specifically, with bipolar disorder, known to strike many artists in all mediums: painters, writers, musicians, etc. In this sense we might be able to posit that insanity increases creativity by nature, that it aids in the production of works of art that otherwise sane individuals have to strain and toil long hours studying how to replicate artificially, as we might see the surrealists doing. We then are led to wonder though, is it the art that brings on the insanity or are the insane drawn to art? It was said by the late 19th century Italian psychiatrist Cesare Lombroso, that all paintings by “lunatics” exhibited the same basic characteristics. These included: distortion, repetition, minute detail, arabesques, obscenity, and rampant symbolism (Porter 49). The connection psychiatrists were making at this time between artists and insane art was so solid, that they later believed all art that exhibited these qualities had to be done only by the insane. According to Theophilus Hyslop, the cubists were suffering from neurological disorders that somehow were connected to their eyes. But the most important characteristic of insane art is its creativity. It seems if we were to measure art simply by terms of creativity, we’d find that the top quality pieces would be that of the insane. However, clearly this is not the only aspect to art. Nevertheless, the impact the insane had and have on art is remarkable. The surrealists attempted to, in a sense, copy this free conscious, insane art by using their dreams as blueprints for their pieces. While not too abstract and chock full of symbols to lose all obvious coherence (and thus the comprehension of the onlooker), the surrealists painted what was bizarre and strange while keeping it in a worldly context we are all familiar with. It was in their unique, or rather simply otherworldly juxtaposition of familiar objects and places that made the art surreal. Dali’s famous melting clocks are a perfect example. In addition, Paul Klee, Max Ernst, Jean Dubuffet, and Georg Baselitz all claimed to be heavily influenced by outsider art. However, insane artist Antonin Artaud once wrote in response to what he might’ve seen as the manipulation and bastardization of his art and other insane artists’ by the liberal minded surrealists. A strikingly sobering line, he said, “What divides me from the Surrealists is that they love life as much as I despise it (Kuspit 83).” Outsider Art and Jean Dubuffet  |
