Post from Maisea--Basquiat

For your next post, first reflect on the film. What image of the artist did it present and how? Are there any aspects of the "Schematic Structure" that you see playing out?

Julian Schnabel’s portrayal of Basquiat’s life gives us an intimate view that we would not likely see had it been told from someone that did not have a personal relationship with Basquiat. However, even this being said, the story seemingly highlights a particular portion of Basquiat in his early rise to fame and then the consequences of this fame and the downfall short after. Being subjectively told by Schnabel we see into his life the way that Schnabel would: with respect, care, a sense of sorrow, and at a human level rather than above us.

Even though the majority of the film focuses in on one particular section of Basquiat’s life a Schematic Structure is still evident. The first scene that we see in which Basquiat and his mother are going to see Picasso’s Guernica we get an immediate view into a possible portents as well as family lineage. His mother plays a very important role throughout the film indentifying Basquiat as an artist. Along with this, the symbol of the crown plays an important role in relation with his mother, which does not become obviously evident until one of the final scenes in which Basquiat describes the dream his mother told him of the prince. This dream, along with the earlier scene in front of Guernica when Basquiat is shown with a crown on his head, act as the portents of who Basquiat is to become as an artist.

Family lineage and naming play an important role throughout in identifying the struggles that Basquiat goes through as a black artist in the midst of what seems to be a culture crisis. Throughout the film there is much emphasis made upon the origins of his name and the fact of it being Haitian. At one point someone even asks him, “Oh, is that French?” and he quickly corrects them, “Haitian.” He seems proud of his lineage but it also seems to come as a reminder of harder things related to his family including his mother’s own mental illnesses that we see throughout in both an obvious and underlying manner.

Basquiats youth is shown prominently as a large portion of the film in leading up to him being discovered. We watch him grow as an artist from simple graffiti on the streets to when he meets Andy Warhol, the point of “discovery by a recognized artist”. Right before this point is when the audience is introduced to the character that is supposed to represent Schnabel, which makes an interesting comment on Schnabel’s role in the structure, almost a pretense to when Basquiat will meet Warhol. In this portion when Warhol begins to become famous the camera moves much faster, resembling the excitement that must come with such a time in one’s life, connecting the audience subjectively, just as Schnabel would be, with Basquiat.

Next, referring to the Jamison reading, do you think that the film links drug use and mental illness with artistic creativity? Don't say what you think, describe what the film "thinks." Refer to the suggestions for film viewing and analysis in Chapter 2 of "Writing about Film."

Throughout all of this we are brought back to scenes in which Basquiat is shown taking part in drug use. It seems to almost define him as an artist in the way that the film is shot we see drug paraphernalia or innuendo to drug use at times of Basquiat being the most artistically creative or inspired. When in creative mode, the music and camera begin to move slowly and then appears the drug use. Through this we even run into an out of the order sequence of the schematic structure in which the fate of the body is touched upon. Late in the film we see Basquiat struggle with drug use and staying clean. Symbolic of this is the status of his skin. There is an interesting scene in which Basquiat is looking at himself in the mirror upset and obviously taking notice to the condition of his skin. Warhol even comments on it in relation to another comment that he makes about whether or not Basquiat is truly clean and healthy.

The film correlates drug use and mental illness with artistic creation in both dialogue and imagery. The first words we hear are of the narrating artist critic telling us we never want to be of a generation that misses the next Van Gough. This immediately forces the audience to correlate Basquiat with Van Gough, as both artist and human. The continuous transition between dreams and hallucinations in terms of their correlation with Basquiat’s art is astounding. Basquiat even tells Warhol at one point how he feels he needs drugs in order to stay creative and to keep pleasing his audience. Beyon this is an even more intimiate correlation of mental illness in terms of his family, specifically his mother, and the artistic inspiration that come from either him just growing up with someone dealing with such an issue, whether or not he himself is affected. In terms of the story of Basquiat as an artist the two most important themes that continue to come back around are drug use and mental illness and an attempt to identify what clean is and how to stay that why while also keep with the art.