Eccentricity & Creativity
“Now as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are beside yourself! Much learning is driving you mad!” But he said, “I am not mad”, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason. For the king, before whom I also speak freely, knows these things; for I am convinced that none of these things escapes his attention, since this thing was not done in a corner.” – Acts: 24-26
“Mystical ecstasy and laughter are the two great delights of living, and saints and clowns their purveyors” – Malcolm Muggeridge
There is an interesting misconception I have come across time and again, namely that insanity (or eccentricity) is some type of a prerequisite of a great artist. That, if someone is truly gifted, they will also be given to mood swings, obsessive, compulsive, given to emotional outbursts, full of idiocyncratic ways, impossible to reason with, and quite number of other cliche’ images that come to mind. My own experience, plus a little bit of digging, however, reveal that this is not the case at all. Most of the outstanding artists throughout the ages and in current times, were and are quite sane and normal people. Insanity does not translate into great art, rather, insanity tends to translate into chaos. Artists like Vincent Van Gogh, the poster child of “crazy artists”, was the exception and not the rule. It is interesting that during his lifetime only one of his works sold. Only after his death did his work become popular. One cannot deny that the there is a creative gene that separates the mediocre from the genius out there, but to put an “insane” or “eccentric” label on it is simply misleading. People using their ‘artistic talent’ as an excuse for their rude and irresponsible behavior, are quite simply rude and irresponsible. GK Chesterton, in his book, Orthodoxy, had this to say: “most of the very great poets have been not only sane, but extremely business-like and if Shakespeare ever really held horses, it was because he was much the safest man to hold them. Imagination does not breed insanity. Exactly what does breed insanity is reason. Poets do not go mad; but chess-players do. Mathematicians go mad, and cashiers; but creative artists very seldom. I am not, as will be seen, in any sense attacking logic: I only say that this danger does lie in logic, not imagination. If the madman could for an instant become careless, he would become sane. Every one who has had the misfortune to talk with people in the heart or on the edge of mental disorder, know that their most sinister quality is a horrible clarity of detail; a connecting of one thing with another in a map more elaborate than a maze. If you argue with a madman, it is extremely probable that you will get the worst of it; for in many ways his mind moves all the quicker for not being delayed by the things that go with good judgment. The madman is the man who has lost everything except his reason.”
I have been in the music business most of my life, started out as a musician in the sixties and moved into tour management, where I have been since since the eighties. Of course, I have run into a few crazies out there, but for the most part, I have to say that in my experience, the mainline artists I have worked with have been quite stable folks that you would not mind inviting over to your Sunday brunch Here are some interesting facts about just a few artists that I have run into in my journeys.
Mick Jagger in the autumn of 1963, left the London School of Economics to pursue his career in music
Garth Brooks attended Oklahoma State University on a track scholarship. He changed his mind in 1984, and ended up with a Marketing degree.
David Bowie Influenced by the dramatic arts, studied with Lindsay Kemp—from avant-garde theatre and mime to Commedia dell’arte.
Lou Reed attended Syracuse University, studying journalism, film directing and creative writing.
Lionel Richie, a star tennis player, accepted a tennis scholarship back at Tuskegee Institute and later graduated with a major in economics.
Meatloaf ( Marvin Lee Aday ) studied acting (Where’s Charley? and The Music Man.) he then attended college at Lubbock Christian College.
Dave Matthews, one of the board members of Farm Aid, owns 1,340 acres of farmland near Scottsville, Virginia named Maple Hill Farm, where he grows organic vegetables, flowers, and herbs.
I could go on and fill a few pages with the bios of artists like U2, Coldplay, Switchfoot, The Fray, Alan Jackson, Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, Until June, etc, etc. that are out there. They are the current generation of artists, normal chaps that give credence to the fact “eccentricity” is not a prerequisite for good art.