I work on you, like a sculptor on a stone... A stone does not offer any resistance. As the artist works on it, it gets lighter and lighter. On the other hand... people seem to add on concepts, instead of becoming free of them. - Nisargadatta Maharaj
Researching at the moment into “neurodiversity” and “neurodivergence” (see below), which undoubtedly have great relevance to many artists past and present (many of whom famously and/or infamously had or have so-called mental health issues).
This will no doubt become a major area of research for me and feed into my practice. Already I have created a lateral homage, in the form of a self-created word and definition: necrodivergence. I’m never gonna die again...
“Neurodiversity is an approach to learning and disability that argues diverse neurological conditions are the result of normal variations in the human genome. This portmanteau of neurological and diversity originated in the late 1990s as a challenge to prevailing views of neurological diversity as inherently pathological, instead asserting that neurological differences should be recognized and respected as a social category on a par with gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability status. Neurocosmopolitanism.com defines Neurodiversity as "...the diversity of human brains and minds - the infinite variation in neurocognitive functioning within our species." - (neurocosmopolitanism.com/neurodiversity-some-basic-terms-definitions/)
An interesting addition to this new lexicon is “neurominority”:
autism, bipolarity, dyslexia, schizophrenia, etc., as seen from the neurodiversity paradigm, aren’t disorders, diseases, or illnesses. In the neurodiversity paradigm we don’t think of a right or wrong style of neurocognitive function.
There isn’t a “normal” or “healthy” type of brain/neurology. Being healthy isn’t a condition that is innate to any type of brain.Furthermore, calling them differences is neuronormative, meaning that it implies that there is a standard or normal type of neurology. In this case, the implication is that neurotypicality is the standard.
Autism, bipolar, dyslexia, schizophrenia, etc., are all neurocognitive variants, styles of neurocognitive functioning, types or forms of neurodivergence, neurocognitve variants, and even disabilities in a world not built for us.
As a lover of all cusping trends in language, the above intrigues and compels me, and represents an opportunity to cooperate in making these nascent expansions in societal self-concepts more exposed and ultimately acceptable. I’ll be experimenting with literal and lateral approaches to supporting this to happen.
