[Column] How to perceive the charm of destructive artists - Between creation and destruction -
Column en Culture Psychology![[Column] How to perceive the charm of destructive artists - Between creation and destruction -](/../assets/images/column-tragic-artist.webp)
Prologue: A heart drawn to tragedy
Text: mmr｜Theme: Genius and destruction, creation and self-destruction. From Kurt Cobain to Amy Winehouse to Yukio Mishima. Explore why people are attracted to destructive artists from the perspectives of psychology, cultural history, and brain science.
Why are we so captivated by the image of an artist heading toward destruction? Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, Amy Winehouse, and Yukio Mishima. Their lives came to an untimely end, with their works shining like crystals of pain, conflict, and loneliness.
When we come into contact with their music and literature, we are exposed to a ““human cry” that goes beyond mere ““works.” It is also a modern myth that represents the anxiety, emptiness, and desire for recognition that everyone has.
Chapter 1: Genealogy of destructive artists
A destructive artist is one who turns the urge for self-destruction into a driving force for creation. Their history began with the birth of modern art.
In 19th century Romanticism, poets and painters considered “madness” to be a symbol of creativity. It extolled the nobility of the soul that cannot fit into society. Byron, Rimbaud, Van Gogh. This lineage has been passed down to musicians and film directors since the 20th century.
They turned “life itself” into art. The moment the work and life match, the audience becomes intoxicated by the truth.
Chapter 2: Psychological Analysis - Mechanisms of Creativity and Self-Destruction
Psychologist Nancy Andreasen has discovered that many forms of creative genius show a link to “bipolar disorder.” The overwhelming concentration and passion that are born during the height of creativity, The period of depression that follows. It is this amplitude that gives birth to original expression.
On the other hand, the urge to self-destruct can be said to be an ““extreme expression of the desire for approval.’’ The pain of not being understood by society transforms into “work” the proof of one’s existence. The culmination of this is the ““aesthetics of death,’’ a view of art that is completed with destruction.
Chapter 3: Popular culture and “death production”
After Kurt Cobain’s death, his suicide note was quoted all over the world. Jim Morrison’s grave remains a place of pilgrimage. The public “consumes” the destruction and receives the tragedy as a “story.”
The media accelerated that structure. Scandals, addiction, death from overwork, burnout… In the ““empathy economy’’ of the social media era, pain has become the emotion most easily spread. People see their own shadows in the “crumbling genius.”
Chapter 4: Neuroscientific perspective - Pleasure of “sublime” and “danger”
The human brain has a structure that finds ““pleasure’’ in fear and sadness. At the moment when the amygdala and nucleus accumbens are activated at the same time, we feel the beauty of tragedy.
It is similar to the ““unresolved dissonance’’ in music. When the brain finds order in danger, it releases dopamine. In other words, the story of a destructive artist is a device that creates a ““pleasant tension’’ on the nervous system.
Chapter 5: “Self-destruction and approval” in the SNS era
In today’s world, anyone can become a small-scale ““disastrous artist.’’ The structure of transmitting emotions and gaining sympathy through SNS blurs the line between creation and self-revelation.
When excessive self-expression eats away at the soul, the boundaries between artists and followers collapse. In that sense, Kurt Cobain’s “Lonely Cry” It can be said that he was anticipating the 21st century structure associated with posting on Instagram and TikTok.
Chapter 6: Ethics and Empathy – Are we “consumers” or “accomplices”?
Admiring tragedy often carries a structure of perpetration. Fans unconsciously “glorify” the artist’s pain, Even after death, the suffering is “deified.”
However, empathy is supposed to mean “understanding their pain and wishing for their recovery.” Rather than becoming intoxicated by destruction, what can we learn from it and how can we heal? This is the new ethics for accepting art in the 21st century.
Final Chapter: Toward the Art of Survival
Creation and destruction are always two sides of the same coin. However, the era of art that can only be completed by death is coming to an end. Now that AI is in charge of creation and communities are expanding where people can share their personal struggles, There is no need to worship “ruin” as a myth.
In fact, ““survival’’ itself may be a new art form. Creation that moves towards recovery rather than destruction. Beyond that lies the image of a truly free artist.
Chronology: Genealogy of Ruin Artists (1900–2025)
Illustration: Diagram of the psychological structure of a destructive artist
“The seeds of creation lie within ourselves, who are fascinated by destruction.”
