Elective affinities between migraine-inspired artists

Stacy Alexander, Reading About Yayoi Kusama, 2008. "This is for Day #4 of the Jen Worden Art Challenge. It is me... reading about Yayoi Kusama, one of my favorite artists. I have written an entry about her on my art blog at stacyalexander.blogspot.com." © 2008 Stacy Alexander

"Dr Podoll has found that artists with migraine are often particularly attracted to the works of other artists who share their migraine experiences. These shared experiences 'act like a filter,' contributing to the an artist's perspective and leading to 'elective affinities between migraine-inspired artists,' he said. In a presentation at the 14th annual International Headache Congress in Philadelphia, titled 'Elective Affinities Between Migraine-Inspired Artists,' Dr Podoll discussed the influence that migraine art has on other artists with migraine. 'The notion of elective affinities between migraine-inspired artists relates to the idea that the passion and interest that one artist may take in the work and life of another artist may be governed or regulated by their sharing of the experience of migraine aura as artistic inspiration,' he said. ... Contemporary artist J. J. Ignatius Brennan discussed his interest in works by Giorgio de Chirico, who had migraine with aura. In art school, Mr Brennan's tutor pointed out that there were similarities in their work, especially in the way that shapes were put together ... 'When I first saw [the work of Giorgio de Chirico], it was love at first sight,' said Mr Brennan. 'De Chirico's migraine experiences also determined-like a filter-his perspective of reception of Friedrich Nietzsche, whose writings have previously been thought to have been the primary source of De Chirico's metaphysical art,' said Dr Podoll. It has been well documented that Nietzsche had migraine. He described the effects of this on his work: 'In the midst of the torments brought on by an uninterrupted 3-day headache accompanied by the laborious vomiting of phlegm, I possessed a dialectician's clarity par excellence, and I then thought out things, for which when I am in better health I am not enough of a climber, not refined, not cold enough.'" (Partridge, 2009)

Likewise, at the age of 18, 12 years after the onset of her migraine with aura, the German "dark chanteuse" Alwa Glebe became acquainted with the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche which provided her with a model to use pain and illness as a means of knowledge and a stimulant in life, originating elective affinities between the pair of migraine-inspired artists. [more]

References

Partridge M. Exploring the Influences of Artists Who Experience Migraine With Aura. Consultant Life - Consultations in Primary Care, September 15, 2009.
Podoll K. Elective affinities between migraine-inspired artists. Lecture at the 14th Congress of the International Headache Society in Philadelphia, September 12, 2009.
Podoll K. Alwa Glebe's imitatio Nietzsche: On elective affinities between migraine-inspired artists. In: Rose FC (ed) The Neurology of Music. Academic Press, London 2009 (in press)

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