Creativity and Rage

My very own Judith and Holofernes, 2019 (on view at Soho House, Austin)

Are you completely filled with rage these days? So fun, right?

In case you missed it, abortion rights in the U.S. are about to be fucked. The overturning of Roe V. Wade is imminent. Most humans I know are raging pretty hard about this. Or if you're not raging about abortion rights, pick a topic to rage about -- trans rights in Texas, the climate crisis, you name it.

So, today I gonna talk about creativity and rage.

In How Rage Can Lead to Creative Breakthroughs, writer Abigail Cain points to some interesting research on this topic:

"In a 2011 [study], researchers Matthijs Baas, Carsten De Dreu, and Bernard Nijstad published findings that showed that people who were angry produced more original ideas during a brainstorming session than participants who were either sad or neutral. Creativity, they reasoned, is the product of two separate cognitive processes: persistence and flexibility. As an energizing emotion, anger encourages persistence in the short term. It also promotes unstructured, flexible thinking in which people jump between semantic categories without much in-depth thought—facilitating the new and novel connections that are the foundation for creativity."

This makes sense to me. You get angry and the ideas flow. You're energized. You're unstructured. You break your own rules.

But there are obviously, downsides. Cain notes that the energizing effects of anger quickly fade. Maybe that anger morphs into something else ... despair, anxiety, or perhaps apathy.

I have felt this -- the emotional rollercoaster ride that seems to be characteristic of our time. Something terrible happens (ex: Roe v. Wade disaster) and here's what most of us go through:

Disbelief! > Rage! > Expression! > Action! > Frustration > Despair > Hopelessness > ... Apathy

I can imagine you've been through this cycle as well.

So, how do we use the creative force of our anger without quickly burning through it? Without letting that energy become toxic to our lives?

If I had the answer to this question I'd be the fucking Dalai Lama.

But below are some things that I reach for when I feel overcome with rage, or worse, I feel my rage slipping into despair. And here's what I encourage you to do:


1. Make your art.
Always, always, always. Channel that rage into your work. Do it when you feel low. Do it when you feel high. Let your art get you real quiet, so you can hear yourself again. It will steady you so you can keep going.


2. Look at history.
Holy shit, do you see all the women artists in this newsletter? Damn! Women have been raging in their work for centuries! They have been fighting for change for centuries. You are connected to that history. Give this rage you're experiencing some context. It will remind you about all the work that's been done and all the work that will continue to get done.


3. Deep breaths.
For real.


4. Look for "the Helpers."
When you feel your rage turning into despair, look for the helpers and join them. Because "If you look for the helpers you'll know that there's hope."

And with a little patience, maybe the new cycle can look something like this:

Rage! > Make your art > Deep breaths > Find the helpers > Rest >

Artemesia Gentileschi, Judith and Holofernes, 1620.
Get it, girl.

Louise Bourgeouis, Destruction of the Father, 1974.
mmmm the darkness.

Barbara Krueger, Your Body is a Battle Ground, 1989.
You know it, Barb.

Cornelia Parker, Cold Dark Matter, 1991
Gimme that fire, Cornelia.

Alison Saar, Conked, 1997
Rage on, AS.