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In an interesting presentation with graphic illustrations, Billig considers the ancient question of the comparison between creative genius and the artistic productions of psychosis. The author feels that all art seems to be concerned with a societal orientation. The schizophrenic, though, seeks to communicate his own inner needs. His productions are not social comment, but rather inner directed and solipsistic. The motivation, then, is different, but there is an even more significant difference in basic structure. In spite of frequent similarities, art has a cohesive quality lacking in schizophrenic productions. Artistic production is conceived of in two phases. During the first phase, traditional order is interrupted, shapes are loosened and fragmented, ego boundaries between inner and outer reality disappear, and oceanic feelings, chaos, and confusion appear. During the second phase of creativity, the ego attempts to defend itself against this anxiety by taking the fragmented substructure and bringing it into consciousness as a cohesive entity. This process of scanning and integration is impossible for the disintegrated schizophrenic ego. Examples are presented to demonstrate this process at different levels of clinical illness and improvement.