“Great music and art is not created through happiness, but rather through deep pain and suffering.”
A look at any artist or musician over the centuries, reveals great pain and suffering in which have resulted in masterpieces. Mozart suffered from deep depression, in the later part of his life, which was also the most productive time of his life. In his last year, when great illness struck, he produced his most revered works, including The Magic Flute, Clarinet Concerto and the unfinished, nonetheless amazing, Requiem.
Deep, cold, misery and despair are quite evident in Picasso’s Old Guitarist, as in many of his works during his Blue Period. A results of living in poverty and the suicide of his best friend Carlos Casagemas.
More recently we’ve seen the evidence of this in Hip Hop. In the early days, Hip Hop was fired by struggle and pain, which gave it a unique edge of realism. Today it’s a sure fire business model to pop fame, solely based on materialism. Thus, it’s dead!
With this in mind I welcome depression, pain and suffering, for I know it will make my music and art that much deeper. The question that boggles me is, do I want to leave this despair at the price of beautiful art?
