antw. "Low-lands," part 3a: Discussions & Questions, pg 55-66

lorentzen-nicklaus lorentzen-nicklaus at t-online.de
Wed Jan 8 03:47:54 CST 2003


Elainemmbell at aol.com schrieb:

> Dr. K is an excellent reference, but why should we think the mad psychiatrist 
> has literary and not personal roots?  I don't know TP's medical bio but I'd 
> be willing to wager he's put in some expensive months of hours under useless 
> psychotherapeutic care--useless because so very few therapists are schooled 
> (or inclined) to "treat" creatives differently from how they would treat more 
> pedestrian head cases. comments?


  + once i read, guess it was here in context of some vineland-discussion, that 
  pynchon did not enter therapy before the mid 1970s and that this therapeutic  
  treatment was focussing on addiction-problems with alcohol and/or cocaine.
  but this is an unconfirmed information. anyway, i could imagine that tom had a 
  hard time after the media were through with gravity's rainbow ... the second  
  half of the 4th decade in life is mostly a tough one, and there must have been 
  thougths in pynchon telling him that the best was done and he will never reach 
  the rainbow-level again ... "there was nothing to care about. every one was   
  busy; nearly every one seemed contented" (EHA, chapter xxi) ... perhaps that  
  was the moment when pynchon entered therapy. at least vineland indicates much 
  more than the earlier works an author with therapeutic experiences. but were  
  these really good for the --- artist? i do not know. maybe the hilbert-novel  
  will blow our minds.... 

kai                                             
                                                ps. some of the (post)reichian  
                                                therapy-forms are up to evoke   
                                                the client's very own           
                                                creativity. this can be done 
                                                through "streaming theater". as 
                                                its inventor, a friend of reich 
                                                who put some of his poems into 
                                                songs, once wrote: "in my life  
                                                it has been meaningful, indeed 
                                                necessary, that diciplined 
                                                creative actions be undertaken 
                                                along with the release of armor. 
                                                taking reich's ideas a step 
                                                further - his idea that full 
                                                release comes through full 
                                                expression of inhibited 
                                                reactions - my felt need was to 
                                                function as musician, actor, 
                                                painter, dancer -, whatever. 
                                                the artist's actions, by their 
                                                very nature, state 
                                                comprehensively each one's 
                                                concept of universe and his/her 
                                                relationship to the whole. (...) 
                                                the artist changes nature; 
                                                she/he moves (dances) through 
                                                physical space or the space of a 
                                                canvas (as a painter) or the    
                                                space of atmosphere (as music 
                                                maker) [or the space of language 
                                                (as writer)- kfl]. artist may be 
                                                considered one who practices the 
                                                discipline of pleasure. for our 
                                                culture pleasure is itself a    
                                                dicipline that needs to be      
                                                approached with concentration   
                                                and repetition. the excercise of 
                                                pleasure is equivalent to the   
                                                full expression of one's senses, 
                                                that sensuality that combines 
                                                feeling, doing, thinking, 
                                                perceiving --- POWER. the 
                                                excercise of pleasure 
                                                counteracts the pleasure-anxiety 
                                                that is probably the single, 
                                                most inclusive cultural ailment, 
                                                manifested as stress and 
                                                disease. the play of pleasure 
                                                gives us the experience of being 
                                                in-the-moment, the sense of NOW 
                                                and the force of behavioral 
                                                improvisation, biological 
                                                motility ..." 
                                                
                                                al bauman: the re-evocation of 
                                                the artist in each person * 
                                                 




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