hi there,
i’m really excited to be the winter resident at the fine arts reading room. i
kind of don’t believe it, but its real enough that i’ve been working on it a
bunch. here is an idea of what i’m planning to work on. it’s the paragraph that
got me here in the first place:
Over the past few semesters, all
of my projects have followed a similar line of inquiry. It has to do with
contemporary art and depression, with being a depressed person that makes art.
It raises questions about the communicative nature of artworks, and the
assumption that they are these powerful vessels for expression and for
aesthetic communication. I’ve been wondering what happens when an artwork
doesn’t solicit an interpretation, but instead makes the viewer weary. What kind
of value does art have if it presents and produces the disengagement felt when
depressed? When the relational property of art is exhausted, what kind of
aesthetic remains? If the image can’t be seen or interpreted, what’s its
function? This distance, this break of connection so often felt in a depressed
state, and its properties in art, all of this has been the questions I go back
to.
The
prevalent scientific notions present depression as a hindrance to creativity,
but I don’t think that they are necessarily incompatible. On the other hand, I
see no value at all in furthering the antiquated notion of melancholy and the
artistic genius, so I will stay very far away from all of that. Rather, I want
to research about art that embodies depression, art where depression’s symptoms
are present in its very constitution. Art that is depressed, not art that
presents depression as a theme, not art that exemplifies depression.
I
know I can’t be alone, that there are other depressed people that make art in
the world and that their art can embody depression. I want to find it, and I
want to know what value it has in current art world principles. I want to find
more sources and critical essays on the subjects of depression in contemporary
art, and in the end present a concise booklet of my findings.
Over
the course of the residency, I want to utilize the exhibition space to showcase
some of those works. Providing the context under which they are chosen and
exhibited will be of importance, so I think small write-ups and text excerpts
should be present and informative. Throughout the six week timeline, the
exhibited works will build on each other along with the research, providing
more artworks to be seen (physically if available, in images otherwise), and
critical considerations to be reflected upon. This exposure of depressed
artworks is important as to raise awareness and understanding of individual and
collective experiences of depression. More importantly, I think it necessary to
reconcile creativity with traditional psychiatric assessments of the depressive
state.
so, yeah. it’s a little
bit of a messy topic, and it intersects with so many other areas of study. it
feels like a huge undertaking and such an important subject, i don’t want to
mess up. if you are aware of any critical research/writings/artworks on the
subject, or if you are an artist living with depression currently or in the
past, i invite you to reach out to me if you’d like. i know it’s terrifying, i
was terrified to propose this subject, as it discloses my mental health to
strangers. but i think that’s a really important part of it (if you don’t feel
like it, you can talk to me anonymously too). also, if you feel i am glossing
over an important aspect of the realm of contemporary art and depression, or
mental health in general, do please let me know and i will acknowledge all i
have missed in the aim to be as inclusive as possible.
thank you to paige and everyone at the farr for granting me this opportunity.
sincerely,
maia c. donnelly
(maia@maiadonnelly.com)
ps: my first shelf install is up at the farr, i encourage you to swing by to see and have a better idea of what i'm working on
