Julia Lanfersieck- Artistic inspiration

Going back to Plato's "Ion," discuss the idea of the artist's inspiration as divine madness in relation to "Belly of an Architect," "Artemisia," or "Camille Claudel."

The essay about Plato’s “Ion” discusses where artistic inspiration comes from, and what Ion and Socrates believed about artistic creation. According to Ion, artistic creation come from God, stating “I am persuaded that good poets by a divine inspiration interpret the things of God to us” (55). The essay also reveals that art lets people be crazy.
All the films that we have watched have led to countless discussion of where each artist’s inspiration came from. For example drugs and alcohol fueled Basquiat’s creativity and may have even been the inspiration of his art. Pollock’s artistic inspiration, as we have noted, came from an internal creative “engine” that worked inside his brain. Both artists used drugs and alcohol as a crutch for their artwork but it can be concluded that their inspiration was also contributed by their “divine madness.”
In “Belly of an Architect” the film clearly displays that Kracklite does have a “madness” quality about him and although we did not see him creating art, his crazy obsessions led him to focus on elements of art (like stomach’s, etc.) Ion’s belief of where artistic inspiration comes from cannot fully relate to Kracklite because there was no inclusion of religion in the film, but it was known that Kracklite’s “God” was really Boullee, so in way Ion’s philosophy could apply by Kracklite’s artistic inspiration is derived directly from his god- Boullee.
The film “Artemisia” reveals that her artistic inspiration comes from her rape and following trail. These traumatic events in her life served as the catalyst for her powerful pro-feminine works that gave her much notoriety. The madness that was stemmed from her trials and tribulations served as the source of her artistic inspiration. Socrates states that “ there is a divinity moving you,” I don’t think that the divinity in her was God, but that it was her drive that led to be strong, and a powerful woman artist.
The film “Camille Claudel” portrays her as a “mad” artist and as a “mad” woman, which is a characteristic that she was given in her real life. However, the source of both her artistic and mental madness have different backgrounds. From what I gathered from the film, her artistic madness came from within- she was an artist for herself because she loved to sculpt, and loved what she did. It was not until she met Rodin that her artistic inspiration shifted from within her to inspiration from him. The film portrays their relationship similarly to Artemisia and Tassi’s relationship. Both these artists were young girls, urging for the help of great artists so they could learn about the craft and become better for themselves. In turn, these men effected them in terrible ways that not only helped but also diminished these woman artist’s inspiration and sanity. Camille’s relationship served to give her inspiration for a period of her life based on love, and her pieces were very similar to those of Rodin’s. Camille Claudel’s passion for sculpture and her relationship with Rodin, and its demise caused her ultimate descent into madness.