High-school art class was my favourite place to show off my self-harm scars. I would proudly display the small, thin cuts on my arms that I had made with a compass (as in the drawing instrument) to my best friend, who would, in turn, show me the latest additions to her scar collection. In hindsight, what the hell were we thinking? What on earth made us think that our cries for help were, well, cool?
Without sounding like one of those old people who blame every post-1998 societal ill on video games and rap music, our intense embrace of melancholia and self-loathing was no doubt influenced by pop culture. This isn’t to say pop culture (music, videos, shows, books, art) brings about depression and/or a depressive state, but rather that, for impressionable teenagers, it influenced our relationship with our demons.
For instance, when you switched on MTV, you would be greeted by a My Chemical Romance video that glorified emotional suffering and death. In art theory class, teachers would gleefully share Vincent van Gogh (the ultimate depressed artist) legends: that he struggled with mental illness; that he painted self-portraits because people were too afraid to pose for him; that he cut off his ear and sent it to a woman he loved; that he tried to kill Gauguin; that he shot himself. And this wasn’t treated as a cautionary tale. Rather, it was treated as proof that all great artists are tortured.
So then of course, what better place to show off your cutting scars than when you’re chilling in front of an easel?
The narrative of the “tortured artist” isn’t unique to high-school art class, of course. The idea that all great art is born from pain is almost as old as art itself. And it’s an idea that still persists. While it’s great that for many, creativity can be a healthy coping mechanism for depression, anxiety and the like, there’s a fine line between that and expecting creative types to suffer from mental illness simply because they create art.
It’s not cute to boast that you create better art when you are in a depressed state —because depression in its truest form is crippling. If you’re lucky you can write about it or write through it, but the aim shouldn’t be to write because of it. So yes, art is a great outlet for the dark feelings within you, but it’s not a reason for anyone to embrace the darkness instead of looking for a bit of light...