| This production thesis explores the collective assumption that artists are inevitably doomed to lives of imbalance and anguish. Using artistic-creative, and hermeneutic methodology to explore the psychological mechanics of creativity, the thesis argues that all artistic work arises from the "tension of the opposites" (Jung, 1916/1960). Artists often have intensified psychic tensions and oppositions within themselves. This artistic temperament allows the necessary psychic friction from which the transcendent function may arise; but often leaves the individual vulnerable to acute psychological suffering when the inner divisions become too great, or are left unconscious. A scholarly inquiry into the relationship between mental illness and creativity precedes an original radio-play entitled: The Bell Jar Retort, or Who's Unafraid of Virginia Woolf? written, performed and recorded by the author (see CD). The performance features two fictitious dialogues between a Suicide Crisis Line counselor and the writers Sylvia Plath and Virginia Woolf, in the moments before their suicides. |
