z. Pathological creativity: How popular
rnedia connect neurological disease and
creative practices
PETER BENGTSEN
8¿
ELLEN SUNESON
neurological research there is an extensive interest in studying how creativity and artistic expression are related to brain activiry (e.g. Demarin zoog; Pqchalska et aI. zorS; Piechowski-Jozwiak &
Bogousslavsþ zo:4iZaidel zor4). This interest is also reflected in popular
science and fiction narratives related to neuroscience. Popular media play
a vital part in the general publict access to, and understanding of; scientific research. Therefore, as communication scholars Matthew Nisbet and
Vithin
Declan Fahy (zorl) argue, the narratives media present have a considerable impact on how society takes on board scientific results.
\X/hile television viewers have long been presented with portrayals
of the world of general medicine in fiction series like ER $994-zoo9),
House (zoo4-zotz) and Grey's Anatorny (zoo5-), the developing fields of
cognitive neuroscience and neurology have also been represented more
specifically in popular media. Taking as our main points of departure the
BBC-produced documentary series Brain Story Qoo4) and ABCt oneseason fiction television series Blacþ Box (zor4), we begin this chapter by
considering the role these programmes play in informing and enabling
the general public to critically participate in discussions about neuroscience.'\Øe then go on to discuss the programmes' recurring linking, often
through references to art histor¡ ofneurological disorder and creativity.
\Øe further discuss the implications this linking may have for the dissemination ofideas about personality traits, artistic expression, neurological
r. \üi¡e have chosen these programmes to highlight how the same types of art historical
narratives recur in similar ways within both popular science and Êctional television programmes.
29
BENGTSEN
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2. PATHOLOGICAL CREATIVITY
SUNESON
disease and neuroscience as a discipline. \Øe examine in particular how
artistic expressions are used when coming up with diagnoses, and we discuss and problematise the media portrayal of the neurologist as a
kind of
art critic who - by studying for example rhe colour, painterly style and
motif of artworks - ostensibly is able ro gain insight related to the neurological processes in artists' brains, and ultimately categorise them as
'normal' or'pathological'.
Popular media and potential for parriciparion
As mentioned above, popular media plays an important role in informing and enabling the general public ro parricipate in discussions abour
neuroscience. The American media scholar Henry Jenkins (zoo6) argues
that when knowledge is presented ro the public through for example
television programmes, it is mediated - or translated - through genres
that move in an intermediate terrain between fact and ficdon proper.
He also makes the point that presenting research through certain thematic narratives and frames of reference makes complex scientific results
appear coherent and accessible. To be relatable and to engage the audience more easil¡ such narrarives are often infused with historical, fictional and cultural tropes that are already well-known ro viewers.
\ùØhile popular media products can help relate complex ropics ro a
broad public in an understandable manner, it is importanr ro nore rhar
this is not the same as participation. The larter occurs, rarher, when audiences critically engage with the contenr as parr of a process, which Jenkins
refers to as conuergence. Essentiall¡ convergence is a 'word that describes
technological, industrial, cultural, and social changes in the ways media
circulates within our culrure' (Jenkins zoo6: z8z). Contemporary sociery
is characterised by what Jenkins calls
conuergence cuhure, which entails
people following and to some degree taking control of media contenr over
a number of different platforms and in different contexrs, often to the
point where the line between producer and consumer becomes blurred.
Jenkins sees user involvement as a key component of convergence.
User involvement in convergence culture as described by Jenkins may, for
example, take the form of viewers discussing media producß with each
other on internet forums, researching and fact-checking informarion presented in the shows and creating new media conrenr like animated GIFs,
fan fiction, analyses and reviews based on the original programmes. These
secondary viewer-generated media products may be circulated on a num-
3o
ber of platforms, and may
in turn be appropriated, reworked,
discussed
and redistributed. This simultaneous consumption and production of
media often takes place within so-called hnowledge communities. These
are social - often online-based - environments that usually 'form around
mutual intellectual interests; their members work together to forge new
knowledge often in realms where no traditional expertise exists' (p' zo).
If picked up by knowledge communities that are able to engage critically
with the content, popular media programmes can be efficient vehicles for
increasing awareness and fostering public debate about specific themes
like neuroscience and neurological disease.
In relation to media products like the popular science programmes
that constitute part of the empirical material for this study, howeve¡
there seems to be a lacking interest in engaging on this kind of participafory level. Convergence seemingly occurs more frequently around
programmes that have dramatic narratives and characters people can and are meant to - become emotionally invested in. This leaves popular
science programmes like Brain Storyt at a disadvantage when it comes
ro viewer engagement and de facto participation. Having said this, it
is interesting to note that while Blacþ Box is a fiction drama with story
arcs and characters that viewers are supposed to become invested in, the
convergence and participation connected to this series also seems to be
limited. There is little empirical material to suggest the existence of a
dedicated fan base that engaged actively with the series or produced secondary media content while, or after, the show was running. Thus, on z8
February zot6,The Cube, a community on TV.com dedicated to Blacþ
Box,had;o3 members. On fanfiction.net, a total of five fan-made stories
taking place in the series' universe have been published (all between 3
June zot4 and zzJune zor5). For comparison, the long-running medical
drama series Gre/s Anãtom! (zoo5-) currendy has approximately rz 8oo
fan-made stories uploaded to fanfiction.net. Fifteen of these were posted
during the airing of the series' first season. Significantl¡ each of these
fifteen stories has an average of just over r3 reviews with no noteworthy
oudiers (the lowest number of reviews is 6, the highest 2o), indicating an
active fan base. The average number of comments is actually higher for
the Blacþ Boxfan fiction (r4.4 reviews), but it is worth nodng that one
of the five stories has received 53 reviews. \Øithout this outlier, the average number of reviews for the rest of the stories is 4.7r, which indicates a
relatively low level of interaction among fans.
3r
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BENGTSEN 8¿ SUNESON
2. PATHOLOGICAL CREATIVITY
The vast majoriqy of the debate surroundin g Black Box took place in
commentaries related to its cancellation after just one season (the latter also being a sign that viewers were not engaging with the show). A
common theme in the responses to the cancellation is that people relate
the shods depiction of neurological disease and treatment to their own
personal experiences, often to emphasise how realistic Blacþ Box wal
Several commenters thus describe the show as not just entertaining but
also educational, and blame the cancellation on a lack of understanding
of the issues the show discussed. One commenter on TVcom wrote:
tagonistt surname. However, 'black box is also a term commonly used
to describe a system or an object in a situation where one has access
to input and the resultant output, but no solid understanding of what
goes on inside the object itself. The human brain, in its reception of and
response to stimuli, is often said to be precisely such an object.3
The series' first episode opens with Black in her psychotherapistt
office, recounting her experiences leading up to, during and after giving a
keynote speech in San Francisco to the (fictional) Neurological Institute
ofAmerica. Black explains that she had been preparing for weeks, but felt
her manuscript was subpar upon rereading it at her hotel the day before
the presentation. She further reveals that she therefore chose to skip her
medication in order to enter into a manic state and get what her therapist
then refers to as'a shot of inspiration'. In a fashback, we see the result as
Black works through most of the night. She goes on to speak enthusiastically in front of a large audience about her efforts to make sense of the
so-called ordinary brain by studying extraordinary ones. As part of her
reasoning for this approach to her research, she refers to the Dutch artist
Vincent van Gogh (1853-189o), whom she paraphrases as having said that
in order to understand the colour blue, it is first necessary to understand
its opposites, yellow and orange. Although not made explicit in the television series, this appears to be in reference to a letter from 1888 from van
Gogh to the artist Émile Bernard. In it, van Gogh writes:
it because of general audience ignorance. Most seriously inteiligent shows don't make it. And this was a very complicated series. I miss it,
They cancelled
because
of the ground-breaking medical treatments. Incredible show, compli& entertaining.'
cated characters, informative
The mention of 'ground-breaking medical treatments' and the characterisation of the show as 'informative' are interesting, because they seem
to be based on the notion that what is presented as facts about the brain,
neurological diseases and their treatment in Blacþ Bar is also valid outside of the universe the show established. At a time when comedy shows
llke
The Daiþ Show, The Colbert Report and LastWeeþ Tonight are seen as
news programmes, this is perhaps nor surprising. Previously established
genres are converging, and the delimitation between fact and fiction is
becoming blurred. However, it is worth noting that in popular media
products, nuances tend to disappear and the complexities of neuroscience - for example reading an MRI scan - are glossed over in favour
of maintaining a compelling narrative. \Øithout entities like knowledge
communities to critically engage with the contenr, popular media programmes may therefore end up as vehicles for transmitting dramatically
efFective, but scientifically inaccurate, ideas and stereorypes, such as the
existence ofa direct link between neurological disease and creativiqy.
Extraordinary brains and the dualiry
of neurological disease
The ABC-produced fiction teleyision series Blacþ Box (zo4) has as its
main protagonist Dr. Catherine Black, a neurologist who secretly lives
with bipolar disorder. The title of the series obviously echoes the proby 'joycewrandolph' on z6 February zor5. Retrieved from: http://www.
com/shows/the-black-box/community/post/black-box-canceled-abc-r4o 7 456467 4zl
z. Comment
tv.
(accessed z8 February zo16).
)z
I should like to find out is the effect of an intenser blue in the sþ.
Fromentin and Gérôme see the soil of the South as colourless, and a iot of people see it like that. My God, yes, if you take some sand in your hand, if you look
at it closel¡ and also watet and also ait they are all colourless, looked at in this
way. There is no blue without yellow and without orange, and ifyou put in blue,
then you must put in yellow, and orange too, mustnt you?a
Vhat
Blackt description of colours as opposites seems to suggest to the audience by analogr that so-called 'ordinary' and 'extraordinary' brains are
also to be seen as opposites rather than variations. As will be demonstrated presendy, however, the series soon contradicts this point of view.
3. Not all viewers understood the connection between the show's title and rhe brain as a
'black box'. In the wake of the show's cancellation, one commenter \ryrote: 'This was an
awesome show! I think the title did not do it justice. I had to watch to realize the show
was GREAMT just had a stupid name.' - Comment by 'lindaspinozag' on rz March
zor5. Retrieved from: http://www.w.com/shows/the-black-box/community/post/black-
box-canceled-abc-r4o7 45646742l (accessed 9 December zor5).
4. Retrieved from: http://www.webexhibits.org/vangogh/letter/r8/Bo6.htm
October zor5).
)t
(accessed z6
BENGTSEN
8¿
SUNESON
2. PATHOLOGICAL CREATIVITY
The conference speech is the first of numerous insrances in the series
where links are made on different levels between neurology, creativity
and art. First, in the scene a parallel is drawn between the methodologies
of Black and van Gogh, staging the scientist as crearive. This running
theme in the series is in part motivated by Blackt bipolar disorder, which
ostensibly enables her to relate more easily to her patients and gives her
an unconventional and crearive angle to work from. Second, apart from
the reference to undersranding things through their opposites, Black also
uses van Gogh as her main example of a person with an extraordinary
brain. She does so 6y way of an anecdotal story about the crearion of his
famous oil painting Tlte Starry Night (r88). A projected image of the
painting appears in the bacþround during her presentation (see figure
z.l. The Starry Night depicts a swirling starry sþ sprawling over a small
town. It is one of van Gogh's mosr famous paintings, and was also a
key work in what came ro be known as Expressionism; a modernist arr
movem€nt that focused on the use of strong colours and distorted forms
in order ro express the inner life and feelings of the artist. Later in this
text we will elaborate on the frequent connecrions made in our empirical
material between Expressionism and mental illness, which serve to frame
neurological research.
Cutting back and forth between the flashback and the conversarion
with her therapist - scenes that respectively present the protagonist in a
manic and medicated state - Black explains that van Gogh was a patient
at a mental hospital when he creared the painting. She then goes on ro
list a number of other people she deems ro be exrraordinary and uses
them to problematise the idea and ideal of the normal:
Temporal lobe epilepsy allowed Saint Paul to hear the voice of God. Hemingway,
Sylvia Plath, Billie Holida¡ Charles Dickens, Herman Melville. These are just a
few ofthe great minds that suffered from a fine madness. Should they have been
medicated into mediocriry? My work is about respecting each and every individual brain, and while I learn from my patients, I make no attempr to distinguish
them from any imaginary state of normalcy.5
After this speech against the ambition to normalise parienrs through
medication, Black seemingly receives a standing ovarion from the audience for her revolutionary take on neurological affiictions and their
(lack of a need for) medicinal rrearment. In the conversation with her
therapist, however, the audiencet reception is revealed to be a hallucination. \X/hile the series in this sequence on rhe surface seems ro advo5. From
Bkcþ Box, season r, episode r: 'Kiss the Sþ'. Firsr broadcast on z4 April zor4.
34
Figøre z.t.
uan Gogh.
Dr. Catherine Blach infont of a projection aflhe Starry Night (t881 by Vincent
S¿¿ Black Box" season r, episode r 'Kiss the Sfu'. First broadcast on z4April zor4.
cate explicitly for the benefits of non-medication, the manic origins and
the hallucinated reception of Blackt speech purposefully undermines the
credibility of such an approach by showing that her non-medicated state
in fact counterproductive.
After delivering her speech, Black returns to the hotel, where her
manic state peaks. She runs out onto her roomt balcony and does an
interpretive dance to a piece of experimental jazz. There is significance
to the recurring use of this type of music by the series in scenes where
the protagonist is in a manic state, as the improvisational and expressive nature of experimentd. jan can be said to underscore, on an aural
level, the link between neurological disease and creativity. It is dark on
the balcony and to begin with the night sþ is lit up only by the moon
and by the San Francisco sþline. As Black falls deeper into her manic
state, however, the scenery changes; stars begin to swirl in formations
across the night sþ and the moon radiates light in a way similar to the
previously depicted van Gogh painting (see figure z.z) . The scene in this
way visualises the connection between Black and van Gogh, which was
previously established verbally in the formert speech. Climbing onto the
railing, Black leaps off the balcony and proceeds to float among the stars
over San Francisco. However, her flight is soon revealed to be another
hallucination. Slipping off the railing, Black lands on the balcony floor,
narrowly avoiding a fall that could have ended her life.
is
3t
T
BENGTSEN
&
2. PATHOLOGICAL CREATIVITY
SUNESON
û
*
\
5
.t
ü
t
I
-¿
./
ence and society (zor4: r).
a
.tt-
al
I
influential. The communication researchers Matthew Nisbet and Ezra
M. Markowitz use the concept of faming to explain how media coverage and popular discourse often embed scientific results in well-known
narratives when presenting them to the general public. They argue that
these frames in turn shape public perceptions and opinions about currenr research and its results, and ultimately affect core beließ about sci-
-t
t:
Figure z.z. Dr. catherine Bkch infont of a san Francísco night scenery that resembles\he
Starry Night (r88Ð
'Kiss the Shy,.
Vincent uan Gogh. See Black Box, season L episode
First broadcast on z4 April zor4.
r
4
The balcony scene encapsulates the duality of neurological disease as
presented in the series. On the one hand, through the visions, music and
dance, the scene visually and audibly communicares the creative porential in experiencing the world differently. On the other hand, Black's hal-
\Øe have found that both fiction and popular science television
programmes frequently discuss the relationship between neurological
disease, creativity and artistic ability. Interestingl¡ they do so using a
relatively outdated framing of the artist as a sole creative genius. This
stands in contrast to more contemporary theories of aft producdon and
interpretation, which tend to see the artist as one of a number of agents
involved in the production of art. From this point of view, the artist is
perceived as an immediate producer, who is part of a larger system of
for example suppliers of materials, gallerists, art critics, collectors and
other artists. This system, whose members collectively constitute phenomena - material or otherwise - as art, is what the American sociolo-Ihe French
sociologist
gist Howard S. Becker (1982) calls an art world.
Pierre Bourdieu Ggg¡) refers to essentially the same social phenomenon
The way popular science programmes and fiction television series portray neurological disease, cognitive neuroscience and neurology contributes to shaping discourses about the bod¡ including the brain, as well as
the scientific disciplines themselves (Dumit zoo4; Nisbet Ec Fahy zor3).
Our perception of the human body is nor somerhing rhar is naturally
given. Instead, it is the result of an ongoing process where societal, cultural and scientific beließ interact with, and form, our norions of our
bodies and selves. In this conrinuous reproduction and negotiation of
ideas, informarion coming, at leasr ostensibl¡ from science is highly
a f.eld of cuhural production. Since, as mentioned above, the framings
of neurological disease as connected to creativity are likely to influence
the field of neuroscience and the public's understanding of neurological disease, it is interesting to examine the discourses that are embedded
in these specific narratives and explore wh¡ for example, the notion of
the artist as a sole genius may be convenient as a part of an explanatory
framework in popular neuroscience.
Scholars in fields like anthropology (Dumit ry97 k zoo4), sociology
(Rose & Abi-Rached zory) and communication studies (Beaulieu zooo
&, zooz) have pointed out how popular media increasingly frame neurological processes as the origin of human behaviour and personaliry traits.
One such trait is creativity.'We have found that three predominant narratives are repeated by popular media to frame or discuss neuroscience
and neurological disease in relation to this particular attribute. First, as
seen in the above description from Blacþ Box of van Gogh and his work,
neurological disease is commonly used as an explanation for creativity.
Second, the framing of a link benveen neuroscience and creativiry is
often established by aflording the neurologist or neuroscientist the role
36
)/
lucinations bring her close to falling off a building, porendally causing
serious harm or death to her and possibly ro others. This is the edge
that we find Black balancing on throughour rhe series, and it is simultaneously the edge that she repearedly is tasked with pulling her patients
back from.
Framing neuroscience and neurological disease as creative
as
2. PATHOLOGICAL CREATIVITY
BENGTSEN 8¿ SUNESON
of a contemporar¡ science-oriented version of the artistic genius. This is
seen in the above empirical example where Black claims to draw inspiration for her own work from the observations ofvan Gogh, and seemingly
comes up with novel perspectives on the nature and purpose of neuroscience as well as on rhe symproms of neurological disease. Additionall¡
Blackt own crearivity is portrayed as interlinked with her bipolar disorder, thus following a well-known narrarive of the artist as suffering, but
also benefitting, from mental illness. Third, the neurologisr or neuroscientist is presented as a kind of art historian or arr critic who is studying
artistic expressions in order to determine their neurological origin. This
can be seen in several instances in Blacþ Box, for example in Black's reading of van Gogh's work. As will be shown in the following section, this
framing of the neuroscientist is also found in real-life cases presented in
the popular science programme Brain Story.
In the above we have briefly presented parts of our empirical material and theoretical perspecrives as well as three main narratives related
to creativity that are commonly used frames of reference when popular television programmes mediate neuroscientific research to a general
audience. In the remainder of the chapter, we will further explore these
narratives and connect them to examples from our empirical material.
Neurological disease
as
an explanarion for creariviry
In the first episode of the BBC-produced popular science programme
Brain Story (zoo4), the hosr, Professor of pharmacology Susan
Greenfield, discusses how Vincent van Goght temporal lobe epilepsy
may have affected his artistic imagination.6 In her introduction to the
segment on the artist, Greenfield questions whether it could be that van
Gogh's 'epilepsy led not only to his crippling mental problems, but at
the same time to his awesome creativity'. She does so while sitting in
the garden of the mental asylum Saint Remy in southern France, where
van Gogh was admitted in 1889. The artist made several paintings of
the landscape around the asylum, and Greenfield compares these paintings to the actual surroundings while stating that the comparison poses
interesting questions about the way the artist saw the world and how
the physical upheaval in his brain somehow transformed his perceptions.
This interprerarion of works of arr, as direct expressions of the artist's
self and the artistt particular way of seeing, reflecs a view of art derived
6. Brain Story, episode r: 'All in The Mind'. First broadcast on 8 May zoo4.
38
from the \Øestern nineteenth-century concept of Romantic individualism. During the Romantic Age (from around ry9o to r85o) the 'mad'
were commonly viewed as superior beings and ascribed an imagination
with great transcendental creative powers. In this wa¡ the idea of
an
affiniry between madness and artistic ability was established. Romantic
individualism later influenced modernist ideas of subjectivity and art;
artists were perceived as individual geniuses, and their artworks were
seen as expressions of their particular identity or 'inner world' (Porter
zoog b9991| As mentioned previousl¡ however, such a perspective is no
longer commonplace within the field of contemporary art. theory.
The segment about van Gogh in Brain Story provides a detailed analysis of his art from the perspective of a neurologist. \Øhile the camera
zooms out to reveal a selÊportrait by van Gogh, and then dwells on a
close-up of the portrayed artist's eye, Greenfieldt voiceover along with
excerpts from an interview with neurologist Shahram Khoshbin account
for the way van Gogh's epilepsy may have affected the area of his brain
just behind his temples. Furthermore, Khoshbin explains that this part
of the brain, the temporal lobe, is where sensory integration beñveen
vision and hearing takes place. On this basis, Khoshbin argues that'it is
easy to see how a disturbance in this area could create a different sensory
experience'. The programme then cuts to a view of a landscape, presumably the Saint Remy garden, filmed through a window with patterned
glass (see fr.gure 2.1). The irregular structure of the glass causes the view
of the landscape to become distorted, making it somewhat reminiscent
of the paintings by van Gogh. In her voiceover, GreenÊeld adds to this
visualisation the information that 'the epilepsy that van Gogh probably
suffered is not uncommon, but in a small number of cases the resulting
uncontrolled brain activiry can permanently change the way a person
perceives the world'. This commentary furthers the idea that van Goght
perception of the world was heavily influenced by temporal lobe epileps¡ and that this fundamentally affected his work as an artist.T
7. The idea that van Gogh really did see the world differently is also a prominent plot
point in series 5, episode ro of the BBC-produced science fiction series Doctor\Yho, en-
titled 'Vincent and the Doctor' (first broadcast on 5 June zoro). In the episode, van Gogh
portrayed as being able to actually see colours, swirls and burst oflight in the night sþ
similar to those depicted in The Starry Nigh¡. In addition, he can see, and is therefore able
to ultimately defeat, a monster that is invisible - but very real - to the other characters.
\7hile not directly linked in the show to temporal lobe epileps¡ the Doctor IVho episode
draws on an established narrative of van Gogh's unique perception of the worid.
is
39
BENGTSEN
&
SUNESON
2. PATHOLOGICAL CREATIVITY
certainly cannot be ruled our rhat a neurological afliction
can influence the way the world is perceived and subsequently depicted,
the link between creadve ourpur and neurological disease is not as clearcut as the representarionin Brain Story might. lead us to believe. Other
factors should also be considered, such as the prevailing ideas and artistic
tendencies of the time. As Nisbet and Fahy (zor3) argue, popular media
often use tales or metaphors familiar ro rhe general public in order to
embed complex scientific results in a more comprehensible framework.
\Øhile this kind of mediation of results makes otherwise complicated and
inaccessible information available to a wider audience, the prominence of
one narrative also often means that other possible narratives or perspectives are disregarded. In the case of van Gogh, conremporary aft hisrorians have traced the strong influence of his close collaboration with the
artists Paul Gauguin (rS48-r9o3) and Émile Bernard (r868-r9ar). As art
historian Anne-Birgitte Fonsmark (zor4) has pointed our, rhe rhree artists' motiß, choice of colours, compositions and other stylistic elements
were 'wandering' between them. In other words, van Gogh's artistic output cannot be understood simply through the perspective of mental affiiction. It was at least in part a result of influences from the social context he
was a part of; a time and an environmenr where styles that later became
known as characteristic of art movements such as Post-Impressionism
and Expressionism began to emerge. In addition to the social aspects,
astronomer Charles A. \X/hitney (1986) has pointed our rhar van Gogh
would sometimes compose his night skies by combining different vantage points. Art historian Evert van Uitert (zo16) further writes rhar van
Goghb Tlte Starryt Night\¡/as composed 'nor directly from narure, but with
the help of sketches' and that 'the old, rather brutal woodcuts that illustrate the Household edition of The Worhs of Charles Dicþens' served as a
source of inspiration for the style of the painting. That the paintings are
composites is a further indication that van Gogh did not simply depict
the world as he saw it and that the idea of a direct link between neurological pathology and artistic ability is problematic.
As mentioned previousl¡ the narrative of the artist as a speciÊc þersonality type' and of art as expressive of a particular kind of identiry has
its roots in a historical period within \Øesrern thought, which reached
its pinnacle in nineteenth and twentieth century European modernism.
The highlighting of arr as an individual expression was initially connected to the idea of the artist as a sole, divinely inspired genius. This
point of view meanr that the identity of the arrisr was collapsed into
the artwork. Art thus came ro be seen as a reflection of the artist's 'self'
(Kester zol: ry6). A search for þure' individual expressions unaffected
by societal norms meant that some modernist art movements, like Art
Brut, took an interest in art made by children and the mentally ill. Other
art movements, such as Dadaism or Surrealism, developed automated
methods for making arr. By doing so, they hoped ro access expressions
of the subconscious that would otherwise be repressed. As mentioned
previousl¡ during the twentieth century these ideas have become highly
contested because they do not take into account the contextual, intersubjective and social aspecrs that play a central role both in the formation of identity and the development of an arrisric sryle.
Given the rather outdated nature of the modernist narrative of identiry it is interesting that it is recurrently used in popular mediations of
neuroscientific research. As a case in point, van Gogh is a widely known
art historical character, and as a perceived artistic genius he is commonly
used as an example when connections are made between mental illness
and creativity. In contrast ro contempo rary art theor¡ Brairc Story's interpretation of van Gogh's work is similar to the modernist idea of how the
identity of the artist is collapsed into the artwork; it differs mainly by a
change in focus. In this popular neuroscientific reading, the idea of the
40
4r
A landscape uieu flmed through a patterned glass window. In Brain Story this h
lneant to uisaalise aan Gogh's distorted uision..Se¿ Brain Story, episode All in The Mind'.
First broødcøst on I May zoo4.
Figure 2.3.
r
\Øhile
it
BENGTSEN
8¿
SUNESON
2. PA.THOLOGICAL CREATIVITY
artist as being guided by his or her inner life seems to have been supplanted with an idea of the artist as being controlled by his or her brain
activity. In the following section, we will further discuss how this relationship between neurological disease and creativity is framed.
Framing artistic abiliry as a symptom
One of the medical cases handled by Dr. Black in Blacþ Box is introduced by showing a young man, named Anthony Guiness, manically
creating a painting in strong colours on the wall and doors of a hospital room (see figure 2.4). tVhen neurologist Catherine Black walks in,
Guiness' parents, who have been sitting at a table in the room, apologise
for their sont behaviour and explain that they are unable to stop him.
They further offer to pay to have the room repainted. Black, however,
refuses and remarks that the painting is beautiful.
The parents tell Black that their son has always been an exceptional
student and that he was headed to MIT to study physics. They further
explain that 'he has never been interested in art. He started drawing
Dr. catherine Blach speahing to the pørents ofthe patient pøinting on a wall and
the doors of ø hospital roam. The painting resembles the worþ of expressionist artists such øs
\Villem de Kooning Joan Mitchel, Asger Jorn and Karel Appel. See BlackBox, season L episode t: 'Kiss the Shy'. First broadtast on z4 April zot4.
Figure 2.4.
about three months ago. First he drew all over the walls of his room, and
then the school suspended him for defacing the hallways'. \JØhen Black
points out thât the emergency room diagnosed their son with schizophrenia his mother exclaims: 'That is wrong! Our son is a scientist, he
is not an artist. Something happened to him, something changed in his
brain!'This comment simultaneously draws on and feeds into the framing of neurological disease - in this case schizophrenia - as a source of
creativity and artistic ability. The mother clearly links being an artist
with being mentally ill. This is a similar narrative to that found in the
previousþ discussed segments from both Blacþ Box and Brain Story on
van Gogh's temporal lobe epilepsy.
The case as a whole also allows the series to discuss the viabiliry of
using the anaþis of creative output to diagnose patients. The problematic nature of this type of diagnosis is demonstrated later in the episode,
as it turns out that a brain tumour, not schizophrenia, is causing the
patient's change of personality and outbursts of creativity. This is confirmed, not by analysing the art Guiness produces, but by his demonstrating other symptoms like suddenly standing motionlessness with a
blank expression and that he selÊreports experiencing dizziness, lack of
motor control and headaches. A subsequent MRI scan reveals a tumour
in the temporal limbic
area.
In preparation for the surgical removal of
42
the tumour, Black tells Guiness that he will become his old self again as a
result of the procedure. Guiness responds by asking if he will still be able
to draw after the surgery, to which Black answers: '[Of] course you will!
You may not want to anymore'. In the final segment of the show pertain-
ing to this case, ir is indeed revealed that the patient has lost his urge to
paint after undergoing surgery. Furthe¡ looking at the wall paintings in
the hospital room, he expresses disbelief that he actually made them.
\X/hile this case problematises the idea that an accurare diagnosis can be
achieved through analysing art, it also reinforces the idea that neurological aflictions and creativity are closely connected.
A similar case, where a person's artistic drive and abiliry are framed
stemming from a malfunction in the brain, is presented in the documentary Brain Story. This non-ficrion example further underscores
our argument that neurological disease is commonly being used as an
explanatory factor for crearive abilities. The host, Susan Greenfield,
as
introduces Dick Lingham in a voiceover. He has been diagnosed
with a, not further specified, degenerative brain disease that is 'slowly
destroying the front of his brain'. Concurrent with the degeneration
of Lingham's frontal lobe, Greenfield explains that 'the brain damage
43
BENGTSEN
8¿
2.
SUNESON
P.A,THOLOGICAL CREATIVITY
has released abilities that Dick never knew he had; he has become overwhelmed with the urge to paint'.
In the segment, Lingham is interviewed while he paints, and the programme visually alternates between showing his face and a close-up of
the paper in front of him. His artworks, Lingham explains, are made
by building up a patrern using diluted ink which he later tries to 'inrerpret into some reasonable picture'. The programme then cuts to one of
his paintings, which seems to be depicting a dragon and a rearing horse
with a rider on its back, predominantly painted in shades of blue (see
figure 2.5).
In the interview, Lingham says that he enjoyed doing art at school but
that he was not very skilled at painting when he was younger and that
as an adult he had not painted until he got sick. His return to painting
as a result of a neurological afliction is reminiscent of the artistic urge
seen in Guiness in Blacþ,Bar. Stylisticall¡ Lingham's work also bears a
resemblance to the wall paintings created by Guiness; the work of both
artists brings to mind the painterly style associated with Expressionism.
As mentioned previously, this modernist art movement is strongly connected to the idea of art as a pure expression, where the artisi's Åind
transcends the body and is projected onto the medium.
In both the realJife case of Lingham and the fictional case of Guiness,
altered neurological processes due to brain disease are used as the sole
explanation for these patients' sudden urge and ability to paint. However,
studying human behaviour, actions and personality traits from a neurological perspective alone leaves out aspects that are crucial for understanding the interaction benveen the individual, language, context and
culture. From a wider, socially oriented perspective it is highly probable
that major mental or cognitive transformations will affect a person's perceptions ofhis or her body and self, Suffering from a disease that changes
one's way of interacting with other people, one's ability to work and care
for one's loved ones, or that alters one's sense of selt will most likely affect
the need to express oneself in order to deal with the situation. In other
words, it cannot be ruled out that the connections found between neurological changes and new ways of expression is to some extent the result
of social causes. Thus, the criticism of an over-simplified notion of the
divide between the individual and the surrounding society that has been
directed at modernism's conception of the artistic genius since the latter half of the twentieth century can also be applied to popular media's
can be inferred from artworks, this familiar shorthand serves ro draw the
viewer into the narrative in virtue of its recognisabiliry. Acknowledging
that art is actually the product of a larger system would muddle the
understanding of the artistic vision as having irs nexus in mental illness.
Popular media programmes dealing wirh neuroscience repearedly depict
artists as having a certain kind of brain geared towards creativiry, and
are hence reproducing the modernist idea of subjectivity. Th. main diÊ
ference is that the previous focus on the special mind or sensibility of
the artist has been replaced by a focus on rhe brain. By using these specific frames of reference, popular media essentially stage artistic ability
as a symptom of an affiiction in the organic brain and explain crearivity solely through neurological processes. This description of individual
44
4t
Figure 2.5. A close up of a detail of one of Dick Linþami paintings. In tlte døcumentary
Brain Stor¡ the painting h merged with a brain scan image throagh ø crossfade. This ernphashes uisaalþ the connection between Lingham:s neurological
ffiction and his ørt. See Brain
Story, episodz
r
All in
The
Mind'. First broad¡ast on I May
zoo4.
contemporary narratives of subjectivity. By furthering the idea of society
as consisting of isolated individuals, these framings ignore the complex
interaction of bodies, perceptions, language, conrext and social exper!
ences, which is part of the basis for the formation of subjectivities and
personality traits.
The idea of the sole artistic genius may nevertheless be a convenienr,
even necessary, trope to draw on in popular media when relating creativiry to neurological disease. \X/hile it ro some extent misrepresenrs what
l-
BENGTSEN
&
2. PATHOLOGICAL CREATIVITY
SUNESON
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46
)