Posts tagged art
An LIU Post Specialty Concentration
HAVE YOU CREATED ART IN OR ABOUT AN EXTREME STATE?
The creators of the Serious Mental Illness blog invite you to submit your visual art, photography, video work, poetry, collage, or short fiction to Art from the Edge. All of the art shown on this flyer has been featured on the blog.
Art from the Edge, a virtual gallery and resource center, is dedicated to art created in and about extreme mental states. It is an open and public world wide forum for artists to share their visual and written works and their personal stories with all those interested in the connection between creativity and “edge” states.
Much like art, which exists in a multitude of mediums and forms of expression, there are a plurality of “edge” states that inspire the artists who harbor them. For this reason, we leave the term completely open to our community’s interpretation, knowing from research and experience that this state could be driven by psychosis or trauma, or an altered state induced by drugs. It could be the offshoot of extreme depression or grief, or the aftermath of a spiritual or mystical state of consciousness.
Ultimately, we are interested in the artist’s individual experience and in his or her sense of what it is that drove the creative act.
HAVE YOU CREATED ART IN OR ABOUT AN EXTREME STATE?
The creators of the Serious Mental Illness blog invite you to submit your visual art, photography, video work, poetry, collage, or short fiction to Art from the Edge.
Art from the Edge, a virtual gallery and resource center, is dedicated to art created in and about extreme mental states. It is an open and public world wide forum for artists to share their visual and written works and their personal stories with all those interested in the connection between creativity and “edge” states.
Much like art, which exists in a multitude of mediums and forms of expression, there are a plurality of “edge” states that inspire the artists who harbor them. For this reason, we leave the term completely open to our community’s interpretation, knowing from research and experience that this state could be driven by psychosis or trauma, or an altered state induced by drugs. It could be the offshoot of extreme depression or grief, or the aftermath of a spiritual or mystical state of consciousness.
Ultimately, we are interested in the artist’s individual experience and in his or her sense of what it is that drove the creative act.
![artfromtheedge:
[Article of Interest] Edward Deeds, Outsider Artist, Leaves Behind Hauntingly Innocent Drawings From Mental Institution By Priscilla Frank”The artist really should be lost to history, and certainly these drawings should,” said curator Tom Parker of his upcoming exhibition. The works in question are by Edward Deeds, a mental patient at Missouri State Hospital for almost 40 years. The show, entitled, “Talisman of the Ward: The Album of Drawings by Edward Deeds,” presents 30 works by the outsider artist.Deeds, who was diagnosed with dementia praecox and schizophrenia, was committed to a mental institution in 1936. Beyond this fact we know little about his condition, personality or life, although the curator sees all he needs to in Deeds’ artwork. “The images have one fabulous clue on every page,” Parker explained to the Huffington Post. “State Lunatic Asylum, written on the paper by the hospital. One poetic detail which encapsulates everything you need to know about the artist and his circumstance.”The artist’s drawings, crafted on the official hospital stationary, radiate a remarkable innocence given the circumstances of their creation. Whimsical lions, wide-eyed characters and vintage vehicles comprise a pictorial land far beyond the mental facility walls. The only reminder of Deeds’ dark reality is recurrence of the letters “ECT,” a likely acronym for the controversial shock treatment known as electroconvulsive therapy.At the time of Deeds’ death he gave his collection of drawings to his mother, who then passed them to her other son, who stored them in his attic. Years later, the drawings were tossed out to a curbside junk pile and were discovered by a 14-year-old boy who became fascinated with them. He kept the works safe for 36 years.The precious drawings, both unpretentious and cryptic, present an idyllic vision from a mysterious perspective. The story of their creation and survival is as magnetic as the raw emotion in his innocent crayon strokes.
“Talisman of the Ward: The Album of Drawings by Edward Deeds” will show from January 10 until February 9, 2013 at Hirschl & Adler Modern.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/57019d0b3c8d217ce5aac7bfb2db7016/tumblr_mjt79kh6841rja5ojo1_500.jpg)
[Article of Interest] Edward Deeds, Outsider Artist, Leaves Behind Hauntingly Innocent Drawings From Mental Institution
By Priscilla Frank
”The artist really should be lost to history, and certainly these drawings should,” said curator Tom Parker of his upcoming exhibition. The works in question are by Edward Deeds, a mental patient at Missouri State Hospital for almost 40 years. The show, entitled, “Talisman of the Ward: The Album of Drawings by Edward Deeds,” presents 30 works by the outsider artist.
Deeds, who was diagnosed with dementia praecox and schizophrenia, was committed to a mental institution in 1936. Beyond this fact we know little about his condition, personality or life, although the curator sees all he needs to in Deeds’ artwork. “The images have one fabulous clue on every page,” Parker explained to the Huffington Post. “State Lunatic Asylum, written on the paper by the hospital. One poetic detail which encapsulates everything you need to know about the artist and his circumstance.”
The artist’s drawings, crafted on the official hospital stationary, radiate a remarkable innocence given the circumstances of their creation. Whimsical lions, wide-eyed characters and vintage vehicles comprise a pictorial land far beyond the mental facility walls. The only reminder of Deeds’ dark reality is recurrence of the letters “ECT,” a likely acronym for the controversial shock treatment known as electroconvulsive therapy.
At the time of Deeds’ death he gave his collection of drawings to his mother, who then passed them to her other son, who stored them in his attic. Years later, the drawings were tossed out to a curbside junk pile and were discovered by a 14-year-old boy who became fascinated with them. He kept the works safe for 36 years.
The precious drawings, both unpretentious and cryptic, present an idyllic vision from a mysterious perspective. The story of their creation and survival is as magnetic as the raw emotion in his innocent crayon strokes.“Talisman of the Ward: The Album of Drawings by Edward Deeds” will show from January 10 until February 9, 2013 at Hirschl & Adler Modern.
[Documentary of Interest] People Say I’m Crazy
Making this film was my idea.
At the beginning, when I had my psychotic break in college, I did not know what was happening with me. I thought that by filming I could explore my illness and try to understand what was going on.
I filmed everything—from being catatonic to when I had ECT (electro-convulsive, or electroshock therapy).
Later on I kept filming because I was so angry about how much misinformation there is about brain diseases like mine. I wanted the world to know what it’s like to live with labels such as “psychotic,” “schizophrenic” and “severely disabled.”
I wanted to let the world know what it is really like to live with schizophrenia.
- John Cadigan
People Say I’m Crazy is the only film about schizophrenia ever made by someone with schizophrenia. Mental illness is viewed from the inside out as the audience becomes witness to a first-hand account of the symptoms of schizophrenia and the disease’s effect on one man and his family. [It] has been hailed as a unique, powerful, and ultimately optimistic statement on coping with schizophrenia, challenging stereotypes and humanizing an often misunderstood illness.
The Story
This film tells the story of a young man, John Cadigan, who develops schizophrenia at age 21 while studying art at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Initially devastated by his diagnosis, John eventually finds appropriate treatment and works his way into recovery, with the help of family and friends. The spotlight is also turned on John’s family as they struggle to understand John’s disease. With courage and love, the family learns how to support John in his efforts to resume living an independent and fulfilling life. By the film’s conclusion, John rejoins his family and community, fulfills his dream of launching his career as an artist, and—an important accomplishment for those who suffer from schizophrenia—moves into his own apartment to begin living an independent life.
The Filmmaker: John Cadigan
John made the film with the help of his sister, filmmaker Katie Cadigan, and Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker, Ira Wohl. John filmed his life for over 10 years—from when he had his first psychotic episode at age 21 until he was well into recovery a decade later. Throughout the process, he managed to record his story despite the cognitive and emotional difficulties created by his disease.
The creators of the Serious Mental Illness blog invite you to submit your visual art, music, photography, crafts, video work, poetry, collage, or short fiction to Art from the Edge.
Art from the Edge, a virtual gallery and resource center, is dedicated to art created in and about extreme mental states. It is an open and public world wide forum for artists to share their visual and written works and their personal stories with all those interested in the connection between creativity and “edge” states.
Much like art, which exists in a multitude of mediums and forms of expression, there are a plurality of “edge” states that inspire the artists who harbor them. For this reason, we leave the term completely open to our community’s interpretation, knowing from research and experience that this state could be driven by psychosis or trauma, or an altered state induced by drugs. It could be the offshoot of extreme depression or grief, or the aftermath of a spiritual or mystical state of consciousness.
Ultimately, we are interested in the artist’s individual experience and in his or her sense of what it is that drove the creative act.
“Woman with Flowing Hair (Moods)”
Could you tell us a little about yourself?
I’m a bipolar artist. I create primarily for therapy, and it works quite well. You can find me at mebeingsocial.tumblr.com !!
Was your submission created about or in an extreme state?
It was created to show the many volatile moods of bipolarity. This is how it feels not being able to rely on yourself, or your mental state. It also looks like a psychotic state to me. Any sort of negative/shocking mental state really.
The creators of the Serious Mental Illness blog invite you to submit your visual art, poetry, or short fiction to Art from the Edge Now!!!
Art from the Edge, a virtual gallery and resource center by the creators of the Serious Mental Illness blog, is a blog dedicated to art created in and about extreme mental states. It is an open and public world wide forum for artists to share their visual and written works and their personal stories with all those interested in the connection between creativity and “edge” states.
[Video of Interest] A Little Insight
Young people from the Voice Collective came together to create this stigma busting animation. The film will be used in schools and online to educate people about hearing voices and to break down barriers between young people.
From the description: Hearing voices that others around you don’t hear is much more common than most people think. This animation was created by a group of 5 young people who hear voices (aged between 13 and 18) in a bid to raise awareness of the experience in schools, and challenge stigma.
As one young person pointed out - when someone comes back to school with a broken arm, everyone crowds around to sign their cast. When someone’s struggling with hearing voices they tend to back off, unsure what to say or do. Why is there a difference?
![[Article of Interest] Vivid Hallucinations From a Fragile LifeYayoi Kusama at Whitney Museum of American ArtAs any account of that career will tell you, including those Ms. Kusama gives, crisis mode was the source of her art. She was born in the city of Matsumoto, a few hundred miles northwest of Tokyo, to an affluent family that owned a large plant nursery and seed farm. Her father, by her account, was distant, cool and a serial philanderer; her mother, embittered by marriage, was perversely abusive.For whatever reason, she had hallucinations from a young age. She claimed that flowers spoke to her; that fabric patterns came to life, multiplied endlessly and threatened to engulf and expunge her. These neurotic fears were compounded by the grueling realities of World War II, when she was in her teens and had begun drawing and painting with ferocious concentration, clinging to art as a lifeline.Her grip on it was more than firm: it was unrelenting and propulsive. With a boldness unusual in a young woman of her day, she left home, under a cloud of disapproval, for art school in Kyoto. There she customized academic styles to her own subversive ends. In the show’s earliest painting, “Lingering Dream” from 1949, she translates the traditional theme of a floral still life into a nightmare of withered limbs and vaginas dentata set in a blasted landscape.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m7bnc3OHQM1rt6iypo1_500.jpg)
[Article of Interest] Vivid Hallucinations From a Fragile Life
Yayoi Kusama at Whitney Museum of American Art
As any account of that career will tell you, including those Ms. Kusama gives, crisis mode was the source of her art. She was born in the city of Matsumoto, a few hundred miles northwest of Tokyo, to an affluent family that owned a large plant nursery and seed farm. Her father, by her account, was distant, cool and a serial philanderer; her mother, embittered by marriage, was perversely abusive.
For whatever reason, she had hallucinations from a young age. She claimed that flowers spoke to her; that fabric patterns came to life, multiplied endlessly and threatened to engulf and expunge her. These neurotic fears were compounded by the grueling realities of World War II, when she was in her teens and had begun drawing and painting with ferocious concentration, clinging to art as a lifeline.
Her grip on it was more than firm: it was unrelenting and propulsive. With a boldness unusual in a young woman of her day, she left home, under a cloud of disapproval, for art school in Kyoto. There she customized academic styles to her own subversive ends. In the show’s earliest painting, “Lingering Dream” from 1949, she translates the traditional theme of a floral still life into a nightmare of withered limbs and vaginas dentata set in a blasted landscape.
[Documentary of Interest] Crazy Art
Synopsis: The documentary explores how art can be used by someone experiencing psychotic, depressive and manic symptoms to reduce and manage those symptoms. It also explores how, in the history of art, as with van Gogh, creativity can reach brilliant heights when psychiatric symptoms are peaking, and how that same creativity, when intensified, can itself increase madness..
The role of art as a form of distraction or meditation to tame the savagery of mental illness is discussed by the three featured artists. The “identity journey” — from madman to Artist— forms a focus in seeing how recovery can be constructed bit by bit.
