The Art of Madness | Hacker News Reader

The Art of Madness

theparisreview.org

51 pointsantigizmo12 comments

No discussion of Outside Art would be complete without mentioning Henry Darger (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Darger) and his uber-epic In the Realms of the Unreal, a "15,145-page, single-spaced fantasy manuscript". He lived almost all his life on 851 W. Webster Avenue in Chicago. If you're in Chicago you can also visit the INtuit Center of Outsider Art (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intuit:_The_Center_for_Intuiti...) to see his work, in NYC the American Folk Art Museum has a center dedicated to him.

Or you can watch the documentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRlvDKcDvsI, although I didn't find it do too much justice to him or his work.

Indeed. I saw his work at an exhibit in Seattle years ago. It is a mind-bender, for sure.

The collection de l'Art Brut in Lausanne Switzerland is still one of the most breathtaking exhibits I've ever seen. Features the works of Darger, Wolfi, Josome and many more.

https://www.artbrut.ch/en_GB/authors/the-collection-de-l-art...

Thank you for the link.

I clicked on this link thinking of Louis Wain and his cats. I was surprised to see most of the images looking generally similar to each other and unlike Wain's work. It makes me think maybe people looking for "outsider art" are looking for art that fits a narrow stereotype.

This collection, and "outsider art" in general, seem to be about untrained, self-taught artists. Louis Wain was schizophrenic, but he studied at the West London School of Art and made a living as an artist for years.

This article reminded me of Nick Blinko's cover art for Coil's Unnatural History III.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unnatural_History_III

I seem to remember reading that he suffered from schizophrenia, and had a habit of burying is art in his backyard so it would grow.

http://www.outsiderart.co.uk/blinko.htm

The American visionary art museum in Baltimore is worth a visit if you like this sort of thing:

http://www.avam.org

TempleOS

Fomerly, I viewed TempleOS as some kind of useless exercise.

But now I think this should be considered a piece of art.

This is actually a brilliant connection.

I could totally see a video of TempleOS being projected on a screen in some Museum of Modern Art. It would be very fitting.

Of course, it'll probably take them another 50 years to take any notice of it, and for it to be accepted by them as "art".

Artistry of the mentally ill by Hans Prinzhorn is an incredible work of narrative art criticism. It changed my whole idea of what Art is.

The collection itself can be viewed in Heidelberg and is worth a visit if one is nearby.

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