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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