The Devil's Pool: Madness, Melancholia and the Artist | Irish Artist's Film Index

The Devil's Pool: Madness, Melancholia and the Artist

Cecily Brennan


Synopsis

'This documentary addresses the long-held public belief in a connection between madness and artistic creativity. The documentary combines a dramatised section with interviews with artists, researchers and academics. These interwoven strands contrast the chaos and torment of mental collapse with the careful rationality of psychiatric research and the views of working artists. Over the course of the documentary the film-maker compares the intellectual and measured observations of the experts, their words controlled and thought through, with a description of the descent into chaos and madness of a young artist ending in overwhelming depression and stasis. The interviewees include Dr Simon Kyaga from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Professor Patricia Waugh of Durham University, the playwright Frank McGuiness and the poet Paul Muldoon.' (Sourced from http://www.cecilybrennan.com/the-devils-pool on May 16th 2016)

A copy of this  work is located in the IMMA Collection, see the MExIndex External Collections.

 

Details
Title

The Devil's Pool: Madness, Melancholia and the Artist

Year

2014

Form

Short

Key phrases

art, documentary, mental illness, creative ability

Language

English (eng)

Duration

00:30:00

Original formats

to be confirmed

Aspect ratio

to be confirmed

Colour

Colour

Sound

Yes

Supported by Kildare County Council Arts Service, the Arts Council of Ireland and Visual Artists Ireland.
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