Suffer the Artists

Why are the so called artists, people whose lives are spent in the pursuit of creative endeavors, so often perceived as conflicted, unbalanced even tortured individuals? Of course this perception may well be a myth, merely part of the persona expected by every great artist. That he should suffer for his art; making us the audience less envious and thus perhaps less hesitant to praise him. We can even delight in it: ‘oh how he suffers for us’. The artist plays the part gladly, a carte blanche to break the norms and etiquette of respectable society as the public cheers him and condemns him with equal measure and fervor.

Yet if instead we accept the premise of the tormented artists as real, then it might be tempting to think that it is that task, of attempting to look at the world afresh, with eyes unclouded by the thoughts of the thoughtless and the lazy impressions of the multitudes, which comes to unhinge the artist. In that sense, the artist even as he shatters the rules comes to reinforce them. Standing as a reminder of the price for seeking to go beyond what is given. Another explanation would be that it is simply those that suffer that are driven to such lengths to create. Tortured souls turn to art, attempting to turn something painful into something beautiful. It is that discontentment that is the fuel of the creative mind. Happiness is the bane of inspiration. The suffering needs art, as every artist eventually comes to need suffering. What then of those poor souls that suffer yet lack the creative impulse?