The Frenzied Dance of Art and Violence

"Some artists have an inclination towards violence, with art helping to mitigate or redirect their destructive energy. For others, their art helps them gain power over or make sense of violent environs. Finally, for some violent perpetrators, art simply mirrors and even perpetuates their psychopathic cycles. Through it all, The Frenzied Dance of Art and Violence explores - and seeks to understand - these interrelated paths of destruction and creation. To inform this dynamic, Dr. David E. Gussak relies on various psychological and sociological perspectives of violence and aggression. Beginning with brief psychobiographies of violent artists, such as Caravaggio, Cellini, Pollock, and Dali, and those whose work emerged from violence, such as Goya, Beckmann, Picasso, and Vann Nath, among others, Gussak illustrates a potent dual nature of art-making: as a way to mitigate violent inclinations and as a tool to regain control amidst turmoil. From here, the book provides an in-depth look at our society's fascination with the products of violent perpetrators in the form of murderabilia, as the art of serial killers such as Gacy, Manson, and Rolling finds its way to art collections, feeding into perpetrators' narcissism and psychopathy. The book concludes with Gussak's reflections from his thirty years as an art therapist working with violent offenders on how art can be used as a therapeutic tool to assuage violence and aggression and promote peace in volatile situations. The Frenzied Dance of Art and Violence is a far-reaching and thought-provoking examination of the competing and complex impulses motivating artwork and those who make it." -- from publisher's website "Some artists have an inclination towards violence, with art helping to mitigate or redirect their destructive energy. For others, their art helps them gain power over or make sense of violent environs. Finally, for some violent perpetrators, art simply mirrors and even perpetuates their psychopathic cycles. Through it all, The Frenzied Dance of Art and Violence explores - and seeks to understand - these interrelated paths of destruction and creation. To inform this dynamic, Dr. David E. Gussak relies on various psychological and sociological perspectives of violence and aggression. Beginning with brief psychobiographies of violent artists, such as Caravaggio, Cellini, Pollock, and Dali, and those whose work emerged from violence, such as Goya, Beckmann, Picasso, and Vann Nath, among others, Gussak illustrates a potent dual nature of art-making: as a way to mitigate violent inclinations and as a tool to regain control amidst turmoil. From here, the book provides an in-depth look at our society's fascination with the products of violent perpetrators in the form of murderabilia, as the art of serial killers such as Gacy, Manson, and Rolling finds its way to art collections, feeding into perpetrators' narcissism and psychopathy. The book concludes with Gussak's reflections from his thirty years as an art therapist working with violent offenders on how art can be used as a therapeutic tool to assuage violence and aggression and promote peace in volatile situations. The Frenzied Dance of Art and Violence is a far-reaching and thought-provoking examination of the competing and complex impulses motivating artwork and those who make it." -- Site Web de l'éditeur Some artists have an inclination towards violence, with art helping to mitigate or redirect their destructive energy. For others, their art helps them gain power over or make sense of violent environs. Finally, for some violent perpetrators, art simply mirrors and even perpetuates their psychopathic cycles. Through it all, The Frenzied Dance of Art and Violence explores - and seeks to understand - these interrelated paths of destruction and creation.To inform this dynamic, Dr. David E. Gussak relies on various psychological and sociological perspectives of violence and aggression. Beginning with brief psychobiographies of violent artists, such as Caravaggio, Cellini, Pollock, and Dali, and those whose work emerged from violence, such as Goya, Beckmann, Picasso, and Vann Nath, among others, Gussak illustrates a potent dual nature of art-making: as a way to mitigate violent inclinations and as a tool to regain control amidst turmoil. From here, the book provides an in-depth look at our society's fascination with the products of violent perpetrators in the form of murderabilia, as the art of serial killers such as Gacy, Manson, and Rolling finds its way to art collections, feeding into perpetrators' narcissism and psychopathy. The book concludes with Gussak's reflections from his thirty years as an art therapist working with violent offenders on how art can be used as a therapeutic tool to assuage violence and aggression and promote peace in volatile situations. The Frenzied Dance of Art and Violence is a far-reaching and thought-provoking examination of the competing and complex impulses motivating artwork and those who make it. Artists like Caravaggio, Cellini, Pollock and Dali, demonstrated volatile, violent—sometimes murderous—behavior. Some, like Goya, Beckmann, Picasso, and Vann Nath, created amazing works despite—or because of—the global destruction and overwhelming societal conflict that surrounded them. Great Britain’s notoriously violent inmate channeled his impulses once he began to draw. Heinous multiple murderers like Gacy, Manson, and Rolling drew and painted works that society finds repelling and compelling. For 30 years as an art therapist working with violent offenders, the author has subscribed to the notion that the impulses that drive one to destruction may be the same that compel one to create, while simultaneously recognizing that making art mitigates and redirects destructive energy. The Frenzied Dance focuses on one charge: to explore and understand this interrelationship between art and violence. To inform this dynamic, this book relies on various psychological and sociological perspectives of violence and aggression, psychobiographies of violent artists and those whose work emerged from violence, the art of multiple murderers and violent offenders, and the author’s own reflections as an art therapist with people who are violent This book also explores society’s fascination with the products of violent perpetrators, how others have used art to foment peace and combat violence, and how art can be used as a therapeutic tool to assuage violence and aggression. The resultant series of essays provide a far-reaching examination of this dynamic interdependence. Cover The Frenzied Dance of Art and Violence Copyright Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments A Note on Obtaining Permission to Include Selected Artworks Plates Prologue: Just What Is This Dance? PART I THE DANCE BETWEENCREATION AND DESTRUCTION Introduction: Art of Violence/​Violence of Art 1 Angelic Demons: The Capricious Creators 2 Creating in Conflict: Art amid Environmental and Societal Violence 3 Art of the Perpetrator and the Oppressed: Unveiling the Art of the Holocaust PART II ART OF PSYCHOPATHY Interlogue: Examining Psychopathy 4 Wielding a New Weapon: Perpetuating the Multiple Murderer’s Psychopathic Cycle Through Art 5 Extremes on the Same Continuum: Comparing the Art of Gacy and Manson PART III ART FOR CHANGE 6 Charles Bronson Becomes Charlie Salvador: “The Most Violent Inmate” Liberated Through Art 7 Guernica: Painted from Violence, a Palette for Peace 8 Continuing the Dance: How Art Therapy Both Reveals and Mitigates Violence and Aggression Epilogue: Bringing the Dance to a Close References Index