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Many people I know write, or make films, or try to write, or try to make films. Or paint, or make music, or dance. For the artistically inclined, especially for those who pursue art consistently, the idea that accidental influences, or serendipity, might aid in the process of creation is fascinating. Our drive to control — rigid, often narcissistic control — is crucial for excellence and for the individual voice to manifest. But control is useful only to a point, for the randomness of the universe also has its say. Chaos and Control: A Psychoanalytic Perspective on Unfolding Creative Minds by Desy Safán-Gerard offers a fascinating look at how psychoanalytic thinking helps explain the interface between a willful self and unintended intrusion of the Other.
Safán-Gerard begins by suggesting the artistic impulse reflects the desire to return to the infant state, in which a developing sense of control exists side by side with the instinct for adventure and discovery, a dialectical tension that remains with us throughout life. This tension is at the root of creation, artistic and otherwise. As the author argues early on, approaching a new creative project — staring at the blank canvass or a blank page — is a return to discomfort, irritability, and helplessness. It requires the abandonment of our “ideal self,” the one we believe “knows what to do,” and a surrender to the state of “not knowing.” Infant desire, which in later years becomes mature longing, reflects both confusion and curiosity, is both thrilling and distressing. An ability to tolerate and navigate the paradoxical of this desire is pivotal for a life of creative pursuit.
To further illuminate the paradox, Safán-Gerard uses the work of psychoanalytic pioneers, explaining the drive to discover and to create coexists with the need to destroy. Citing ideas from Sabina Spielrein (1912/1994) and Winnicott (1971), Safán-Gerard argues for the validity of the destructive