Belushi
On Yahoo! Answers someone asked for a list of famous artists who did drugs and the number one answer was, “The list of famous artists who didn’t do drugs would be a shorter one.” Creativity and drug use are inextricably tied, at least since the 60’s. Not just in fine art, but think about just your front of mind knowledge of musicians, writers, comedians and actors who were/are known mind-alterers. We’d like to believe that drug use is a product of idle hands, lack of direction, weak wills and irresponsibility driven by a wasteland mentality of the disenfranchised and lost. And while that may be true, you wouldn’t know it by the list of artists and creative minds who have done everything from recreational use to far far more.
Functional drug use is probably one of the least talked-about, least understood aspects of the creative process. We live in some kind of mortal fear that it exists and functions only insomuch as we don’t discuss it. As if it is some kind of butterfly wing issue that turns quickly into the story of Sodom and Gomorrah at the mere suggestion of understanding it. The most damaging view of John Belushi is the one in which all of his work is diminished as extracted drops of juice out of a strangled mess of a life. The truth of the matter is, the man lived with all of it and then pushed it too far. But prior to pushing it too far existed a genius life filled with laughter, intelligence and all the other stuff we would use to describe any kind of notion of a “worthy life.” There was love, family, friends, success… more success than most people achieve in an entire lifetime.
But beyond just who took what drugs and how it affected the artist’s work, from a movie script standpoint, there is a deeper exploration taking place in some circles as to the effects of drug use, in general, on the art industry. Think about the difference between art that you stand back from and observe and art that you come to know as you interact with it. That very difference is a leap that is in very close relation to what happens when anyone takes drugs – the difference between feeling on the Earth and feeling in the Earth. That reflection is described in this well-written and thoughtful piece on three installations by Charles Eames now showing at at the Mathew Marks Gallery in New York. It’s worth the short read and, well, it’ll blow your mind, man!
In some way, isn’t an artist taking drugs on par with an athlete taking HGH? Even if you don’t really care about guys taking PEDs, it still on some level, diminishes his accomplishments.
Do the drugs make someone more creative, and if they do, is that person really all that creative to begin with? Probably more so than the average guy or gal.
I’ve never done any drugs, and I’m not really all that creative (unless you consider sarcasm) but I like to think that great art comes from some tortured soul, and/or a brilliant mind.
Then again, if I could hit a curve, I’d take HGH to make an extra million.