Twórczość plastyczna w schizofrenii jako specyficzna forma wypowiedzi
The Creation of Plastic Artworks in the State of Schizophrenia as a Specific Form of Expression

Author(s): Magdalena Bisz
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, History of Art
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Summary/Abstract: The artistic activity of people suffering from schizophrenia is the main theme of the presentarticle, whereas its most important aim is to formulate a hypothesis which would provide ananswer to the significant research question: Can the pieces created during the state of psychosisbe regarded as works of art or are they only a form of substitute activity to the patient (in whichcase they should be analysed exclusively in terms of a clinical diagnosis). Many researchersrepresenting biological psychiatry opt for considering schizophrenic art as a projection of distor-tions, created in the course of mental processes that take place in the schizophrenic’s mind. Thehumanities represent a different attitude, regarding mental illness as an artificial product createdby the society. Both points of view seem to be incomplete. Therefore, the discussion concerningthe art of people affected by psychosis focuses on adopting a more moderate perspective, sug-gested by Karl Jaspers, who first acknowledged the analysis of artistic pieces created by peoplewith mental disorders as a supplementary method of examination of mental processes takingplace in the minds of patients suffering from schizophrenia. Working with schizophrenics, just asanalysing their plastic artworks, requires adopting a different perspective than the one typicallyadopted in case of healthy people. The analysis of art created by the mentally ill may be a formof examination of their internal experiences, being simultaneously a clinical diagnosis and animportant stage in the therapeutic process.

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