Madness and Creativity

As part of my work as an art student, the links between creativity and madness are of great interest to me. I have been reading a book called 'Understanding Paranoia', and it is of the authors opinion that without the processes that lead to madness, there would be no such thing as 'creativity'. These two things, in my experience are inextricably linked. I suffereed with a paranoid illness about 7 years ago and found that during this time my mind was opened up to enormous creative possibilities. I am at present exploring the relationship, but because i consider myself no longer 'paranoid' it is very difficult to get into that creative mind set.All I can say is it forced me to look at the world through new, questioning eyes. I now question the true nature of reality as we see it, and through this my work is influenced.I would be interested to know of others opinions on these matters.

Replies:

Artistic Expression as Self-Healing, by Sophia Kelly, 5/26/97 rebuttal, by debra ripp, 8/25/97 Re: madness and creativity, by , 6/15/99 Re: madness and creativity, by Rebeca Urquiola, 8/10/99 Re: madness and creativity, by , 6/15/99 Re: madness and creativity, by Chris Jordan, 8/20/99 Art & Madness, by Mary , 1/25/98

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