The Cellar - View Single Post - 10/4/2005: Schizophrenic's carving becomes art

Undertoad · 10-04-2005, 08:24 AM

via We Make Money Not Art

Jeannot was a farmer in France in the 70s. He was schizophrenic, so much so that at one point he actually took potshots at his neighbors due to the voices in his head.

He lived with his mother, but his mother died - a natural death, we assume. Instead of burying her under the earth like one would normally do, he stuck her under the kitchen stairs. And then he moved next to the stairs and started carving up the floor.

'Religion has invented machines for commanding the brain of people and animals and with an invention for seeing our vision through the retina uses us to do ill (...) the church after using Hitler to kill the Jews wanted to invent a trial to take power (...) we Jean Paule are innocent we have neither killed nor destroyed nor hurt others it's religion that uses electronic machines to command the brain.'

After seven months he died of starvation, having apparently not et after his mom died. And now his carved rants are Paris' controversial new art exhibit.

Although art critics want the work to continue to be seen by a wide audience, Benoit Gallet, a spokesman for the company which owns Jeannot's Floorboards, said: "We intend to offer the work to the Hopital Sainte Anne, a psychiatric centre in Paris. We feel that placing the work in that environment will help fight against the stigmatisation of mental illness as people will want to go in and see it."

In my opinion: I think it's very important to understand why this carving was made, and what it says. But I don't think there's any room for interpretation. There's nothing astonishing about it, and definitely nothing profound. It's illness, plain and simple. Doesn't merit artistic exploration - it only merits scientific and medical exploration.

10-04-2005, 08:24 AM	#1
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	10/4/2005: Schizophrenic's carving becomes art via We Make Money Not Art Jeannot was a farmer in France in the 70s. He was schizophrenic, so much so that at one point he actually took potshots at his neighbors due to the voices in his head. He lived with his mother, but his mother died - a natural death, we assume. Instead of burying her under the earth like one would normally do, he stuck her under the kitchen stairs. And then he moved next to the stairs and started carving up the floor. 'Religion has invented machines for commanding the brain of people and animals and with an invention for seeing our vision through the retina uses us to do ill (...) the church after using Hitler to kill the Jews wanted to invent a trial to take power (...) we Jean Paule are innocent we have neither killed nor destroyed nor hurt others it's religion that uses electronic machines to command the brain.' After seven months he died of starvation, having apparently not et after his mom died. And now his carved rants are Paris' controversial new art exhibit. Although art critics want the work to continue to be seen by a wide audience, Benoit Gallet, a spokesman for the company which owns Jeannot's Floorboards, said: "We intend to offer the work to the Hopital Sainte Anne, a psychiatric centre in Paris. We feel that placing the work in that environment will help fight against the stigmatisation of mental illness as people will want to go in and see it." In my opinion: I think it's very important to understand why this carving was made, and what it says. But I don't think there's any room for interpretation. There's nothing astonishing about it, and definitely nothing profound. It's illness, plain and simple. Doesn't merit artistic exploration - it only merits scientific and medical exploration.