Feminist Art oral LLCE

        « Art is a way of survival » said Yoko Ono, but it seems that the thing putting artist’s survival at stake are the artists themselves. The idea of artists driven by their crippling depression is the oldest stereotype in the books, yet it undeniably contains a grain of truth. There are countless artists whose lives feed the « tortured artist » notion, for example, Vincent van Gogh, the revolutionary post-impressionist, sold only one piece of art before his suicide. It is also scientific fact that artists are more prone to depression than others, and they use their art as a coping mechanism. However, the effect their work has on others can be contrasted: it can help them for the best as easily as it can sink them down their misery. Therefore, we’ll study the link between art and mental health and asks ourselves if expressing such dark thoughts through art can actually improve mental health. Firstly, we’ll analyze how it can build a bridge between the artist and their audience, then, we’ll focus on how dangerous the relationship between art and mental health can become. To illustrate the first half of my presentation I’ll use the following documents: Arthur Miller’s book; “Death of a Salesman”, the lyrics of the song 1-800-273-8255 by Logic, Sylvia Plath’s poem titled “Edge”. Then for the second part, I’ll use an article called “The Suicidal Artist” by Psychology Today, the Netflix show “13 reasons why” and a photography by Robert Wiles titled “The Most Beautiful Death”.

        Each piece of artwork is created for a reason: to share a feeling. Artists are people just the same as you and me, they experience feelings of joy and peace as well as depression and anger, and they play out these emotions in their art work. This gives art a very personal and emotional quality. This connects people of all nationalities, languages and ages. Which is why, in order to break the stigma around mental health, art is the most efficient way to spread awareness. Arthur Miller’s play “Death of a Salesman” written in 1949, with it’s realistic setting and complex characters really pushed forward a really accurate and relatable representation of mental illnesses. In this play, we’re following the last 24 hours of Willy Loman a 63 years old failed salesman whose distorted American Dream led to his suicide. The play also explores his relationship with his family and friends. From the start, Willy’s mental illnesses are exposed pretty clearly to the reader as in the beginning of act one he tells his wife, Linda, how he almost ran over a boy because he got distracted by strange thoughts while driving. All throughout the play, the car actually is a symbol of Willy’s declining mental health. When Willy’s daydreaming about the past, it is shown through a scene of him and his sons, Happy and Biff, washing his car. “Ha! Don't leave the hubcaps, boys. Get the chamois to the hubcaps. Happy, use newspaper on the windows, its the easiest thing. Show him how to do it Biff! You see, Happy? Pad it up, use it like a pad. That's it, that's it, good work. You're doin’ all right, Hap.” In this flashback, it seemed that they lived a happy life, Willy was able to pay the bills without too much trouble, and he loved his family and they loved him back. He is actually praising his sons in the scene which he never does anymore. Then, earlier on, when he talked about the car accident: “I was driving along, you understand? And I was fine. I was even observing the scenery. You can imagine, me looking at scenery, on the road every week of my life. But it’s so beautiful up there, Linda, the trees are so thick, and the sun is warm. I opened the windshield and just let the warm air bathe over me. And then all of a sudden I’m goin’ off the road! I’m tellin’ ya, I absolutely forgot I was driving. If I’d’ve gone the other way over the white line I might’ve killed somebody. So I went on again—and five minutes later I’m dreamin’ again, and I nearly— I have such thoughts, I have such strange thoughts.” This event symbolizes how he is slowly drifting away, how he’s letting himself be submerged by those strange thoughts. It is later on revealed that this car accident is part of his many failed suicide attempts, showing just how much he lost sight of reason. At the end of the play, Willy’s gives up to his inner demons and kills himself in a car crash. At the funeral, the character’s emotions are all different, Biff’s angry and he blames his father for what he’s done, he resents him, even in death, meanwhile Happy wants to pursue his father’s legacy. On the other hand, Linda’s in denial, she can’t understand why he killed himself when they had everything they ever worked for. She says: “We’re free”, yet, “We” doesn’t mean anything since Willy’s gone, she just isn’t ready to acknowledge it yet. In this scene, the reader is confronted with the various reactions people who experienced losing someone to suicide may have, this scene show that it is natural to feel angry just as much as it is natural to feel sad. Those are feeling a lot of people can identify themselves to, this message can help people know that they’re heard and understood.

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