I was talking with my BSC (bat-**** crazy) sister a few days about the subject of artistic creation. She insisted that people of her ilk (the suffering and tormented) could produce better 'art' than the run-of-the-mill average Jo. I insisted she was wrong (she conceded, but if I insisted strongly enough that the earth were made of marshmallows, she'd concede).
Being 'artistic,' IMO, is the vainglorious clutch to which tormented souls cling to justify their depravities. That's not to say that everyone else doesn't have issues or crutches, but many a tortured artist possesses an almost rabid -- foaming-at-the-mouth -- proprietarial claim on the ability to create great art. Perhaps it's just Suffering's snobbery, but it annoys the Hell out of me.
I get tired of hearing the refrain that great art/great writing/etc. comes from deprivation, darkness, etc... Just because Hemingway was an alcoholic or b/c Vincent Van Gogh drank turpentine and went BSC on his ear doesn't mean they were great artists (and don't get me started on Joyce). The literary elite will defend the likes of Hemingway to their graves, but were his writings to disappear, I don't think most outside the literary world would notice or care. I appreciate Van Gogh's paintings enough (leaps and bounds above modern art, for sure), and maybe his ideas would have been different if he'd been a straight arrow, and maybe they would have been better. We'll never know, but to attribute his greatness to his psychological state is specious.
To me, great art is something that speaks to the masses. It is something that weaves a common Human thread together. The ability to weave this pattern is most certainly difficult, and it can come from darkness (ala Stephen King's terrifying insights into the human psyche while high on coke), but it can also come from light (ala Harry Potter). Whatever the case may be, you don't have to have a secret membership or think in facocked 4-D for the art to resonate with you. Great art is simple and universal. Great art is not great because the elitists tell you it is. Great art is great because the everyman enjoys it, even if he might not know why.
What a great topic! And I love what you're saying. I've never understood art/literary snobs who cling tightly to their classics and believe that nothing great is or can be produced anymore (except by themselves). Artistic expression is continously evolving and each generation and contribution has its own merit.
ReplyDeleteMind you ... most of those BSC artistes (note the "e") weren't lauded when they were alive. They were recognized for being off their rockers and shunned because of it.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to add another annoying phrase to this post, based off my above statement: "Great art is never appreciated in the artist's lifetime."
That's the speaker, IMO, denying that their trashy work will somehow be found brilliant by later generations. Nope. Hate to tell you, but it'll still be junk.
/rant
Sorry ... meant to say "the speaker, IMO, thinking ..." not the other word.
ReplyDeleteMatt - too funny (particularly lovin' the artist'e' :) - 'I can't help it if people just don't get my brilliance.'
ReplyDeleteYou're so on target with this. The truth is that we're all tormented to some degree at some time in our life. We don't all turn to the various available depravities. I think it bears to look at the causal relationship. Were they great artists because of their weakness? Were they weak because of their artistry? I don't either were the case. They were great artists who had various other weaknesses.
ReplyDeleteI hate to say it... but if anyone disappeared (or never existed) - be it actor, writer, artist, politician, humanitarian, etc. - it wouldn't make much difference to the world as a whole. There is always someone to take anyone's place... the world might just evolve in a slightly different way, but it's hard to say if we'd be better or worse off. So, your Hemingway analogy could apply to any one of us.
ReplyDeleteThe only real difference we make, IMO, is to the small group of people that we truly love.
How's THAT for cynical? ;-)
Laura, that sounds like an argument I had with my brother (he has this 'save the world' mentality and I told him he'd be doing a great job if he could save 10 people).
ReplyDeleteSo I'm wholeheartedly in the camp that none of us truly matters. My point was more along the lines of: if Hemingway died and if JKR died, whose obituary would sell more copies? Whose presence created more of an impact (no matter how fleeting or trivial or replacable)?
Amen to that, brother. Deprivation and angst might affect the art, but not its value to the beholder.
ReplyDeleteAnd that brings me the the theory of earth as a marshmallow. Have you ever tried to microwave a marshmallow? It's very cool, a regular marshmallow will get as big as a baseball in the microwave. It's a hot, sticky mess when you're done, so the real value is in watching it, not eating it.
I am interested in obtaining a microwave large enough to encompass the earth (with room to expand) and testing the earth-as-a-marshmallow theory outright. If you know where I can obtain such a device, please let me know and I'll reserve a seat for you on the viewing platform.
Also, while we're on the subject of microwaves, I once worked in a restaurant where another cook put a raw egg in the microwave. This was a sturdy, industrial-grade microwave. One raw egg. About one minute later the microwave was minus one door. Blew it open and damaged the hinges because of the force. Very cool.
That was not the same cook that we convinced to try to drink a gallon of milk in an hour on a $50 bet. If you ever have the opportunity to bet someone they can't drink a gallon of milk in an hour, do it. Even if they don't pony up the cash it's worth seeing the expression on their face minutes before they hurl. Just don't every try to drink a gallon of milk in an hour yourself, it can't be done.
Huh. I hope I never go BSC. I don't want to be known as the troubled, struggling artist who did X that was so insane blah blah blah. I don't see the appeal, honestly. Who wants insanity while you're alive and fame when you're dead? Sounds like a bum rap to me.
ReplyDeleteIsn't Hunter S. Thompson the poster child for angsty writing... or maybe Charlie Kaufman. It's a toss-up, methinks. That ADAPTATION was one F'd-up movie.
ReplyDeleteYeah, but, L.T., we might all go inadvertently insane. Queries can do that to a person... or so I've been told.
ReplyDeleteRick, LOL... reminds me of something similar:
ReplyDeleteback in school we (a bunch of students and the MechE machinist) bet the doughnut-lovin' CiviE machinist he couldn't down a dozen Krispy Kremes (assorted variety) and a pint of milk to help lubricate the pipes. He actually got through 10.5 doughnuts, but could only do half the milk.
Laura, Hunter Thompson's definitely way out there on that teetering crazy limb. Methinks Charlie Kaufman's just dipping his toes in the shallow end (not sure if he's a poser or a wannabe :) -- and I second the insanity induced by queries (though, truth be told, we all half to be a wee bit wacko to do this to ourselves, don't we?)
I agree. I get sick of hearing the "poor soul" who is a starving actor/artist line. But I will say this... I do think people who have issues have more reasons to hide in another world than those who don't. These days I think we all feel like we want to escape... So everyone's a creative genuis...Right?
ReplyDeleteSo you're saying I don't have to cut my ear off to sell my books? :) Phew!
ReplyDeleteI can attest to Rick's description of the messy marshmallow microwave thing. My kids tried to make the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man after watching Ghostbusters. Apparently it was radically cool while it was growing...
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSo true Bane. It works me to no end when people who are actually IMO just crazy claim that they are true artists ... or worse, look down on you if you are not as tormented and "original" as they are.
ReplyDelete