David Fekete

TOUCHED WITH FIRE: ART AND MANIA–Too Hot To Handle

 Why do people read a story? They want something bigger and more than average. An ordinary woman hooks up with and marries a Scottish Laird. They all live in a magnificent castle and enjoy boundless wealth--eh?
 No one wants to read a story,

 "Yah, I went grocery shopping and bought some carrots. Potatoes were on sale, so I bought some potatoes. I needed toilet paper."

Consider this quote from the Swedenborgian Poet, William Blake. It’s a little bigger than grocery shopping. Blake is writing about Artistic Creation in an extended metaphor of giving birth. The character “Los” symbolizes the creator, Artist. Blake isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. I like him:

 "8. The globe of life blood trembled
   Branching out into roots:
   Fibrous, writhing upon the winds:
   Fibres of blood, milk and tears:
   In pangs, eternity on eternity.
   At length in tears and cries imbodied
   A female form trembling and pale
   Waves before his deathy face
   9. All Eternity shuddered at sight
   Of the first female now separate
   Pale as a cloud of snow
   Waving before the face of Los
   10. Wonder, awe, fear, astonishment
   Petrify the eternal myriads."

Wow, eh!? That Poet is hot, literally.

 Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison wrote a research book whose title I use in my fb post: TOUCHED WITH FIRE. In her book, Dr Redfield-Jamison found that there is a higher incidence of mental illnesses in the arts community, than in the general population. Everybody always thought Artists are half-baked; Dr. Jamison gave it clinical validation.

 I said that the Poet is hot. Blake lets us into just how hot he is. Again, talking about his own character, Los. Blake compares Artistic Creation to a blacksmith amid the Fiery Forge. William Blake also draws on Alchemical Imagery:

"Los ragd and stampd the earth in his might & 
      terrible wrath!
 He stood and stampd the earth: then he threw
       down his hammer in rage
 In fury: then he sat down and wept, terrified: 
      then arose
 And chaunted his song, labouring with the tongs
      and hammer."

I know this. I think all us Artists know this.

Too Hot To Handle!

ENIGMATIC DR DAVE ENTERPRISES, PRELUDED