the act of creation is an attempt to enter a mysterious realm. a longing to transcend. what we create allows us to share glimpses of an inner landscape, one that is beyond our understanding. art is our portal to the unseen world.
- rick rubin
ISSUE I
SUMMER EDITION
theme: MADNESS
4th June - 13th September
- don't forget to read our guidelines -
Madness comes in many forms, it’s difficult to dictate what exactly it means. On one hand, it’s the state of being mad, insane, or having a mental illness. On the other, it’s foolish behaviour. Archaically, it was a state of wild or chaotic activity. Madness is bedlam, chaos. It is what the Greeks thought the world started with. Their idea of madness was artful - divine mania, enthusiasm. Frenzy, passion, fury. Diomedes slashing at invisible gods. It is babel - disorder, miscommunication, too many voices and not enough listening.
Research starting points:
Greek tragedies
Macbeth, by Shakespeare
Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier
Play it as it Lays, by Joan Didion
American Psycho, by Bret Easton Ellis
Black Swan, dir. Darren Aronofsky (2010)
The Picture of Dorian Grey, by Oscar Wilde
Maestro, dir. Bradley Cooper (2023)
⚜ In medieval Europe, it was believed that madness was caused by the moon’s phases. - lunacy, from luna. You could say madness is an outbreak of emotion, of any emotion - sadness, fear, rage. Write about what rage feels like, its colours. Write about a topsy-turvy world where everything is flipped on its side, where the earth rains blood. For this prompt we'd love a range of different media - not just words but art, collages, palimpsests of emotion. How does madness show itself? Are dreams a form of madness? Are we all going mad?
Can summer cause madness? A strange sort of madness - a lunacy, one driven by stagnancy and languidness and boredom, satiated by the heat. One can see moving scenes in the sky, think they can talk to animals, feel fairies touching their skin. Can we get mad by staring for too long at the way sunlight pools onto water? Wide eyes, gaping mouth, infinite gems on a moving current.
