A Critical Perspective on Art Brut Within a Deleuzian Context (PhD dissertation)
The motivation behind this study lies in my personal interest in Art Brut works and their place in the contemporary world. Art Brut, also known as Marginal Art, emerged in the 1940s in France, representing a problematic artistic creation by individuals marginalised in various ways. This genre has captivated scholarly attention over time, particularly concerning the concept of ‘art of madness,’ which explores creativity within madness.
Researching the position of Art Brut in today’s world necessitates a deep dive into contemporary thought, tracing the archaeology of madness and reason within Western thought and situating it within the current capitalist machinery. This approach challenges conventional perceptions and illuminates how Art Brut operates as a critical commentary on societal norms and structures.
Capitalism not only produces but is also produced by the subjects of our time, defining the interplay between the inside and outside of the social fabric, and shaping human relations and our ways of living and thinking. In a world dominated by a profit-oriented economy, where art is increasingly seen as a market-oriented activity, examining a controversial kind of artistic creation and its outsider creators—taking a critical stance against the market and related social relations—was, in a way, an attempt to become an outsider. Although far from reaching the intensity of creating at the very edges of the social as do Art Brut artists, this effort, which has culminated in this work, aims to make the political importance of the outsiders and the outside more perceptible for contemporary thought. Looking closer at Art Brut can help us realise that what we consider ‘normal,’ ‘natural,’ and ‘inevitable’ are merely simplifications of our time. A different world is always possible, and it unfolds through manifold ways, with Art Brut being only one of them. As long as differences exist, the notions of the outside and the outsider also exist, even within the inside as the place of change; the question is how to make them perceptible.
For the completion of this book, I extend a very warm thank you to those who, despite commercial pressure, freely shared their hard work on Art Brut on digital platforms, providing a ground for further dialogues by making their work easily accessible to all. I believe that by encouraging free knowledge sharing, we can conceive of a more substantive academia and build a more equal and robust society. Last but not least, I would like to express my warmest thanks and gratitude to all the Art Brut creators who have deeply inspired me and many others to think that a different thought and a different world is always possible. I hope with this work I can contribute to a better understanding of their work.
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Art Brut, also known as Marginal Art, emerged in the 1940s in France. It represented a problematic artistic creation by individuals marginalised in various ways. Over time, Art Brut has been the subject of extensive and often controversial scholarly discourse, with varying and often contentious definitions of what constitutes ‘authentic’ Art Brut. In the 1980s, the Western art market witnessed the emergence of the Outsider Art market, specifically focusing on this genre. This market has often been criticised for commercialising Art Brut and thus further undermining its controversial authenticity.
By the 1990s, Art Brut had spread to Japan, where it was problematically perceived more as a means of social inclusion than as art. This led to the birth of a new concept in Japan known as Borderless Art. This research argues that Art Brut cannot be understood in terms of definite forms. Instead, it explores Art Brut through the lens of Deleuzian philosophy, where it is considered not in fixed forms but in terms of how it is produced. This approach provides a critical perspective on the perceptions of Art Brut, drawing heavily on a comprehensive study of Deleuzian philosophy focusing on the schizophrenic object, the de/re-territorialisation processes of capitalism, counter-actualisation, and textual analysis of Art Brut literature.
Additionally, the research includes practical fieldwork: two exhibitions and an art event were held in Japan, with two further exhibitions observed for surveys; qualitative interviews with key informants, and five small case studies involving different welfare organisations were conducted. It concludes that while traditional perceptions of Art Brut as an authentic art form, as market goods, or as welfare means fail to fully capture its essence, the concept of Borderless Art, emerging from social inclusion efforts, offers a potential framework for understanding Art Brut more adequately within a Deleuzian context.
