CAFA QOD: The Art of Failure
Posted by: admin in CAFA QOD, Artist stereotypes, Artistic self-destruction, Artist quote, Chuck Connelly, The excesses of artists, Artists are their own worst enemies, Aging artists, The struggles of artists, Artistic delusion, The tortured artist, Artistic failure in America“…Tell your wife you love her. This is what it’s all about. Otherwise, you’ll be painting and looking at pictures like this. Your days are numbered, clowns. This is the end of the line. The end of beauty. The end of hope. What is art anyway? Decorations for museums.”
–Chuck Connelly, in the extra features on the DVD for The Art of Failure: Chuck Connelly Not for Sale, A Film by Jeff Stimmel
I realized about halfway through Jeff Stimmel’s 2008 documentary about Chuck Connelly that I had met this person before, several times. I’d heard his rants before, I’d seen his behavior, I’d witnessed in person how he lived. Through my years as a writer on art, I interviewed and wrote about a number of aging artists — perhaps 6 or 7 in sum — who were very similar to the way Connelly portrays himself in the film. They were so much alike, in fact, that it seems there must be a personality type: The Delusional Shut-in Artist, perhaps, or maybe the Quixotic Quack Painter.
Here are some of the character features of these men (all the ones I’ve met are men):
They are painters, most often.
They have a heroic vision of themselves (as a Great Artist, a warrior fighting against the cultural tides, a man on a holy quest for beauty, truth, etc).
They are so focused on their art — their quest — that not much else matters to them.
As a rule, they don’t care much about their appearance, and they often let themselves go.
They live in a kind of contained squalor, most often surrounded by the messy trappings of their art practice and the accumulated junk piles of the congenital shut-in.
They tend to believe that they’ve been cheated, somehow, out of the rewards (fame, wealth, attention) they feel is rightfully theirs.
They are misogynistic, abusive to their loved ones, and generally fail at interpersonal relationships.
Evenso, they can be very charismatic, attracting a succession of short-term acolytes, supporters, and co-dependents who eventually end up fleeing in disgust from being used.
They tend toward substance abuse.
They are verbally brilliant, though they think and speak in non-linear, associative ways.
They exhibit flashes of brilliance and great command of their own self-directed learning, but they tend to be, at best, emotionally adolescent.
Entries (RSS)
June 22nd, 2009 at 8:18 pm
funny, you’ve basically outlined the DSM criteria for diagnosing narcissistic personality disorder…
July 25th, 2009 at 9:46 am
True that there are artists like this. Also true that sometimes they do wonderful work (certainly not always). The quality of the human doing the work is not an index of the quality of the work. Also, pathologizing oddity troubles me. I mean, in my life I have come to see consciousness itself as a kind of pathology, I suppose–and messy unpleasantness can seem less pathological to me than some other manifestations of the human. Human beings are ridden by all kinds of gods and demons, filled with force and mystery. Sometimes they are broken by it, or at least cracked.
October 29th, 2009 at 8:50 am
sounds like a typical sulfur type to me…
January 31st, 2010 at 7:37 pm
If a person would have to be crazy to be a professional painter, then doesn’ it follow that their behavior is normal for painters? The problem of faulty reasoning appears when we use our middle class working slave (i e. the expert white middle class male psychologist) definitions on a different breed of cat.
December 22nd, 2010 at 8:39 am
“All theories are gray,except for Life’s green, golden color”-Goethe.One should be careful about generalizing,particularly when it comes to painters.Although you have the accuracy of a good horoscope diviner,the artist cares not a tinker’s cuss about what others think about him/her.It takes years and years of living & painting to be able to “clear the room”,to be truly alone with his painting,so that ,ideally,he leaves the room & the painting finishes itself.
May 18th, 2011 at 12:55 am
Yeah .. you are all right but what is the saddest part of being famous is when you are in the crest and then you failed when less expected.
November 20th, 2011 at 10:20 pm
To see excellant examples of artistic delusion, just watch “American Idol -worst auditions”.
It almost seems that the more delusional a person is, the worse their performance.
So much for “thought creates reality”
February 10th, 2012 at 10:32 pm
If you’re a female artist, people call you a lesbo, bitch, maneater, ball-buster, or slut. Which is why women quit their artistic careers when they enter relationships and get married and parents discourage their daughters from being artists as well. It’s no wonder artistic, creative women suffer more domestic violence in their families, relationships, and marriages, that is if their partner and family members lack creativity. Same goes with male artists, they also suffer abuse from non creative women and their families but non creative women often cheat on them more with non creative men who they see as manly, especially in North America where homophobia, perfectionism, and heterosexism run very rampant. It’s hard for artists to get into relationships and get married, especially to non creative, non art appreciative types. There will always be abuse and, in the case of male artists, their female partners will often cheat on them with more manlier men because it’s easy to think male artists are sissies and not masculine enough to protect them and have intercourse with them.
July 13th, 2012 at 12:31 am
WoW!! I just read this article and it hit home . For three long intense years (2009-2012) I was one of Chuck Connelly’s “short-term acolytes, supporters, and co-dependents who eventually ended up fleeing in disgust from being used.” Ha! You have described him to a tee!
Boy, I could write a book. Thank God I had the self confidence it took to survive. He quickly moved on to another. There was the ever-present intense fear of ending up alone. It’s a running theme in the work. You can see it in the movie. It’s rather tragic considering he treats his supporters and the people closest to him horrendously. He usually ends up alone at the end of each day calling the people in his life losers and not being worthy “of walking with History”. I could go on… but in this piece of yours I found your description of this type spot on!
I agree with Terrance, “you’ve basically outlined the DSM criteria for diagnosing narcissistic personality disorder…” I believe the romantic myth of the temperamental artist gives these types (like Chuck) a green light to behave accordingly when in reality they have severe mental issues like a narcissistic personality disorder (at best) which blinds them socially, (though, usually smart as a whip) preventing the art-superstar success they believe they deserve, therefore, living a very unhappy adult life without the professional counseling they desperately need. It is truly sad to witness.