The murder of a little girl in the news broke this man’s heart so badly that he was determined to “fix” the injustice by rewriting the girls life as a fictional heroine who overcomes abuse. This man was so good and the story of his life is so heartbreaking that it literally brings me to tears every time. RIP Henry, artist and protector of children.
scales, goat horns, reptile parts, whips, ripped open bellies - he witnessed terrible acts on children. Anyone in the subject knows what this refers to.
I think creating that art was his way of therapy and healing from his sad childhood, maybe that's why he never felt like publishing it, because it is so personal.
He also hadn't finished it from the amount that was found and un sorted into volumes. He may have been so obsessive he wanted to do the entire thing in one action, ie, get it all published at once. He obviously gave up when he asked his landlord to find a retirement home for him to go to. He didn't do anything then about his works. He had obviously abandonded his opus. A throwaway line was obvious when he asked his landlord to throw it all away.
Indeed sounds like he created his art as therapy, as a way of dealing with his childhood traumas, the abuse and, likely, exploitation he experienced at the Asylum for Feeble Minded Children. Even the name already sounds like the management there thought they could just overrule and exploit these children without any resistance. I mean, some of the images he made clearly refer to the lasso's that were used to capture run-aways. I think this is the origin of his Glandelinians. The fact that he went through one of the worst - if not the worst - war of mankind cannot have helped in improving his world-view and need for therapy. I think these two major events in his life probably drove the story and that he realised the harshness and cruelty in it that - though intended as personal therapy - he thought would not be understood by the outside world... A truly haunting story...
It is a great therapy. I have been drawing a comic strip for almost fifty years. I publish a small part of it, but most of it is never seen by anyone. Every couple of years I burn about fifty pounds of unpublished pages.
I think the act of writing a story and doing the illustrations was an escape from his life. He created a fantasy life inside a book. He also put himself as the protector of the children in his story.
I came here after listening to a podcast episode about murdered children; a little girl named Elsie Paroubek was killed in Chicago in 1911 and her picture fascinated Darger.... She became Anna Arondale, the leader of the Vivian Girls!! In a time when girls didn't hold any power at all, he made them strong, independent heroines ❤️ thank you, Henry! I wish I could have met you.
Yeah agreed... the curator made that great point that his not having ambition to sell or show it, but only to create it for himself make it essentially outsider, pure, uncompromised and wild. He was really not of this world!... Another doc, the Nova doc, said that he would be alone in his room and they would hear him having intense conversations, sometimes in other languages, all in different voices. And for 10 years he became obsessed with recording the weather several times a day in a crusade to prove the arrogance and wrongness of the weather man's forecast, scribbling comments about how the weatherman was making a fool of himself and an affront to God for daring to claim he could predict weather. Fascinating alien guy!!
What a fascinating and creative man. I've just recently started looking into Darger's life and art and love the whole idea of the socially rejected recluse secretly creating a new world for himself in art.
I've read several things in the comments below that are not quite right... but that's this video's fault: Darger did not want his worked destroyed, he was very ill at the very end of his life and was moved to a hospital, the landlords enter his room to make some cleaning and found his arta, they went to see Darger at his bed in the hospital and asked him "what should we do with this? We think is marvelous... can we keep it?" and he thought about it for a moment and then said "if yoi like it then you can do whatever you want with it" short after that he died. Also, the naked androginous girls look like that because Darger himself never saw a naked woman in his life, so he didn's even know about different sets of genitalia. he never had sex with any woman because he had a sister and they were split appart at a very young age, Darger was scared he could end up in bed with her by mistake if he ever tried to have sex, so either way he never really know anything about the subjetc. I highly recomment the docummentary "In the realms of unreal", is a ver complete and interesting analysis of Darger's life and work... not like this video.
That's just a theory born from bigotry bcs he was mentally ill. Assuming an artist drew something a certain way bcs "he didn't know any better" is... belittling and insulting and generally something you should never do when 'appreciating art' as snobby as that sounds He lived in the 20th century first of all, not the damn 18th. He was placed in institutions and he worked at a hospital.. (yeah as maintenance staff but still) ... 'he never saw what women look like' come on -___-
This is not true. He obviously knew female anatomy, because he worked in different hospitals. And he was separated from his sister because his mother died in labour. The child got adopted almost since her birth.
@@pink_alligator So true!! How in the world could he live so many years and never see an image of a nude female, let alone not see a naked girl being changed in a park pool, or growing up with a sister... come on! He made those girls surreal and super powered with horns and wings... he knew what the heck he was doing!!!!!!!!
I think it’s something you are compelled to do. It’s something that happens inside your mind and Henry found an outlet, his art. Being published or not was never the point, he had to do it.
"can it be considered art if only the artist sees it" - yes! what? yes. You think when Goya was painting on the walls of his house he gave a shit what you thought?
He didn't tell the landlord to throw his art away. One of the landlords wanted to dispose of it upon discovery. Darger might not have cared much about what he created, but its still 40 years of work. He was searching dumpsters to find crayons and pencils to draw with, nothing could stop him. A true artist
This was so powerful. I watched it two times, some parts even more times, right away... I am so moved by the story of this man, thank you for introducing me to him.
This made me think how many great artworks that has spanned decades and has been lost because no one saw their value so it's great the landlord saw some value in his "artworks".
Art in it's purest form is about creative expression. Concerns for what others will think, and fear of that shame reduce purity of expression, and therefore it's purity as art.
I get outsider art. Of course he would've wanted to be appreciated. The most telling part is he said he didn't value what he did, and told the landlord to throw it away. Most people never devote the time or have the passion to do what he did, just the sheer volume and attention to detail, seeing his vision to the end for the sheer joy alone is remarkable, most people who have had such a disadvantaged life find themselves on the outside of society looking in and are treated as if they had no personal currency, because society has a very narrow definition of success, and the pressure is immense to conform as we all can attest to. their quality and value aren't appreciated or respected as most people deride high culture as frivolous and a waste of time in even the most accepted forms. The act alone of rebelling against that pressure makes it worthwhile to many people who have seen his work, and to be original using the most common symbols from regular culture and turning into his own vision and to make it truly compelling instead of just making some pale imitation of what he saw (which is typically all you could reasonably expect from someone like him) makes it significant even if he wasn't "allowed" to think so, but I believe he tried in his own way to make the best story he was capable of. I personally find it kind of creepy and weird, but also beautiful, it's his story, not necessarily the art or the person for me. but newsflash you don't have to accept it all to appreciate it.
If no one hears the tree fall, it's totally still art. The more I learn about contemporary art, I think that the entire goal of the 70's was to make the question "is it art" obsolete. This kind of making imaginative drawing fits pretty comfortably into any definition of art anyway.
I think he was embarrassed of his art due to the fact that people might think he's crazy for drawing naked and murdered children. Also was this book ever published and were his art pieces included?
No, who would publish a 15,000 page book? Who would buy it at that time? Do you have any idea how much it would cost to publish a book like that? How much would it cost? I can't think of anything even remotely comparable to his works. Even A Dance To The Music Of Time and Remembrance Of Things Past together would only add up to around 40 % of Dargers major work and then there is the added cost of plate setting for the pictures. I can't see that Darger, from what I have read of him and his life, would agree to revising, editing or cutting parts out to publish the work and the pictures were essential to his work.
I've been privileged to see a lot of original Darger art in person and it is stunning. Pure outsider stuff and nothing else is like it. Is it great, is it bad, it doesn't matter. It is the product of a singular mind and it is fascinating. This little documentary only touches on the more mainstream offerings. There are some wild things that are even more interesting.
I'm so intrigued when it comes to art and mysteries. When a song is anonymously written, or a piece is made by "Unknown" or in this case, never meant to be seen by anyone, it unlocks my imagination and makes me wonder about the entire process of making art.
Great outsider art. Art is in the eyes of the beholder. Even the horror of his battle scenes as disturbing as they are, show great thought and creativity. Nice video guys!
A recent book by Olivia Laing The Lonely City considers Darger. I had never heard of Darger before but she gives him a respectful and even elegant consideration.
Yes, I believe it can be considered art even when only the artist sees it. Art is the artistic expression of the artist, regardless of who sees it. Why else would we be interested in the paintings of artists who reused canvases that said artists painted over. The artists themselves decided they didn't want to share them with the world for whatever reason, but people still try to see what is under the top layer of paint.
Olá. Vc é o único brasileiro que vi por aqui , como posso fazer pra ver um vídeo ou encontrar a biografia de Henri darger , eu não entendo o inglês no vídeo e não achei onde ativar legendas para o português ?
He sounds like he was a wonderful man. It's a bummer life wasn't better to him while he was alive. But it's very cool that he's getting recognition now
Anyone raised in the state system can appreciate this art. To others it may be perplexing at best. Just take it at face value. The people meant to understand it will do just that.
The Nova documentary is also amazing with interviews from his landlords, and neighbour and the story narrated with his imagery brought to life. its funny and wild
depends on how the word "art" is defined: if we only mean "that created by humans" then the scope is limited. If we say "that which is aesthetically pleasing" then everything we see is art.
First the lady below Isabell Xie, sums it up, and secondly, I doubt Henry had any idea how to share his artwork. And if for some reason he did know how to share his stuff, he probably didn't want to let his wonderful, beloved drawings get away from him. The drawings were so personal and he loved them dearly. "They were his babies," to coin a phrase that is already coined.
That room is not the filthy room that he was living in. According to the biographer it was filled floor to ceiling with string, empty bottles and newspapers.
Will there ever be a possibility of a publisher releasing the story? I've been fascinated by it for years and have wanted to read it. If nothing else, do we know whether Darger could actually write or was this work ramblings?
@@anonb4632 It would have to be an illustrated work I guess as intended then. The Nova doc did a good job of creating a narrative from his words and his writing sounded cool and unique like his pictures, so maybe it would be more the universe's longest illustrated poem if published.
8:32 How do you know it's art unless someone else tells you it's art? Speaking as a creative myself, I don't care whether other people consider what I do art or not. I'll do it regardless of what other people tell me, because I'm driven to do it. I can't NOT do it. It's like any other bodily function. No one seeks praise for eating, or defecating, or smiling, or blinking, etc. External validation would be nice, but it's irrelevant to what I do, because I'm doing it for myself, reflexively. People who don't have the same drive might find this hard to understand. But it's like what McCoy said to Spock in Star Trek III: "You mean I have to die to discuss your insights on death?" Exactly.
Awesome thank you for this video, I've heard of him (mostly through the Natalie merchant song, and interviews she did at the time), but knew very little, it was cool to see more artwork, and learn more about him.
Funny thing is he never actually went to the front or Europe. He never left training in Texas. So all that shit was floating around in his brain and trauma from childhood.
If art is a mirror to oneself, then this is something worth seeing. Did you see perversion? Did you see mutilation? Did you see innocence? Did you see asexuality? Did you see the power of femininity unfettered by puberty? Did you see...? What you see is what you are. It is not your answer you should be concerned with - but rather the reason (in your own head) for your answer that should concern you. And, if like me, you consider all these things - have we become so considerationary that the true message of the art is lost? How we, or I, lost our, or my, way? This outcome is equally disconcerting. Making this great art.
You asked if a tree falls in the forest is it still art or something, and I think oh no test! I'm not going to know the answer! It is art if no one sees it, because the greatest performances are about transition. That's it, changing from one state of mind to another, but it's no small feat. it's not hot to cold, it's a complete180. it only has two roles to imitate life and instruct, and what that is is up to interpretation. we should be honored to a glimpse into the how because it's so rare. it doesn't matter if its transitioning from victim to hero, or good to bad or vice versa. that's the meaning of Henry Darger's life, even if it's just the desire. If I'm not mistaken George Lucas never flew the millenium falcon either. If he were a kook or a one trick pony, which you would assume he would be if he had talent and was simply nuts, he isn't, he strives for change of some sort, to something with some meaning, not just the insanity he was subjected to or locked away in his prison of four walls. most characters in popular culture stay the same, never evolving they just stick with what's accepted, but it isn't recognised as art, In music literature or movies it's commercial garbage, or it's fairly well written fluff. Jason Vorhees stays Jason Vorhees in all umpteen remakes and it sells like hotcakes.Poor to rich doesn't count either, just ask any lotto winner. in Darger's case it's the secret of his subconscious dreams come to life. His secret is locked up somewhere in there and we'll never know, We'll never know where art comes from either, I keep asking why for god sakes Henry why? I find that question cool as hell.
Here's an interesting tidbit I found on him: : Henry Darger's grave can be found in All Saints Cemetery in Des Plaines, Iowa. The headstone reads: "Henry Darger. Artist and Protector of Children."
I don't think if he went public with that work back then, it would not have become so popular as it is today. I just think it's popular right now because it is a well preserved piece of history. Maybe his story would have gained some ground though, it sounds really good. But the art itself? I don't think so. It's good that this man had a way to express himself though, it's always good if people have a method for doing so. Having all that said, being a self taught artist back then was way harder then it is today. Today there is almost a limitless amount of ways to gain knowledge on art trough the Internet, and it is more viable option for people today to take lessons if they really wanted to. And there is certainly potential in his work. Makes you wonder what he could have made if he had a opportunity to take lessons.
Although his art is personal, I see it in the context of history, how society dealt with children. Today in 2024, I’m learning about family court corruption and the industry. The industry of exploitation was something he experienced. I think it’s time to bring this shadow to light and fulfill his vision.
Bert Paulson brings up a significant detail that this video completely ignores. And in so doing misrepresents Darger. It's not really honest to leave this detail out. "His work can sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars." And yet Darger worked as a janitor and lived in a simple room. It's hard not to think that he was picked over by vultures after his death.
It's funny you should say that one should stop at season 2 of Lost. That's exactly where I stopped since I'd watched the first couple seasons on DVD, but season 3 was halfway over by the time I'd done that, and I never got around to going back to it later. Guess maybe I dodged a bullet on that one :0).
I guess art is very subjective. Celebrating an outsider just for being an outsider is something that is quite obscure to me, or just plain stupid. That being said, in Henry Darger's case, you can really see the pain leftover from his childhood.
NO have you seen their behavior destroying Star wars, hiring Harvey Weinstein's assistant, Kathleen Kennedy, and intentionally making theme park attractions unsafe.
Art doesn't need an audience. Curators and creators can share and make art, and people can enhance and change the experience of art. But at its core, art just is.
@3:08 Seems more along the lines of some ultra-complex epic by Suzy McKee Charnas, Joanna Russ, Ursula K. Le Guin, or Izumi Suzuki rather than Tolkien.
art is an expression of ones self and people can experience expression in many forms. so if this is true then it only takes someone to experience the expression for it to be considered art, even if that is only ones self.
Hey +The Good Stuff Since you mentioned it, fun fact about the recipe for Coca Cola; the Coca Cola company didn't patent the recipe. So if you found the recipe, you could legally make it and sell it. That is you could have done that until it became illegal to use any part of the coca plant in any recipe in the U.S. You may have heard the myth that Coca Cola used to have cocaine in it. It's a little unclear whether they actually had cocaine in the original recipe, but cocaine does come from the coca plant, which is and has always been an ingredient for Coca Cola. When it became illegal to use the coca plant, there was a grandfather clause that allowed Coca Cola to continue it's use of the coca plant as long as they don't use actual cocaine. That's why you'll never find a store brand cola that tastes like Coca Cola. You may find one that tastes like Pepsi though.
+Jon Berglind Yes it had cocaine in it via the coca-leave ingredient. refined cocaine was never added. They twice tweaked the recipe, first to remove all but a trace of the cocaine, and secondly to remove even that trace. This happened ages ago. The cocaine is extracted and sold to the pharmaceutical industry. Other cola manufacturers are absolutely allowed to use the decocainated coca leaves; but I'm too lazy to investigate if any actually bother to or not. Lots of recipes choose to be "trade secret" instead of "patented" because if you obtain a patent, that patent must describe the invention, so when the patent expires in 20 years, anyone can just copy it...also, recipes don't normally count as inventions.
I'm thinking how if this kind of art trove, with its particular subject matter, was discovered today we would think any man who owned it was some kind of deplorable pervert and have it incinerated.
Art is art regardless whether or not others see it. Would it have become popular? Not, unless the buyers had some "strange" reason to buy it. That said, I think he was an artist. It's just a primitive form of Picasso's Guernica and the horrors of war (or what we know very well, is happening, children being kidnapped and put through torture and often killed, while people keep letting it continue.) He painted real life, but the real life most people pretend is not real. Of course, he wanted it tossed. He had to be a bit insane, having to deal with was in his "imagination".
His art was done at a time when art of young slave girls was not exactly acceptable , he probably felt it best to keep it secret. Religion was quite repressive in those days. Winks Lisa
so the guy asked the landlord to throw away his stuff and instead they decided to display and analyze it? that hardly seems fair. Even if this work was an absolute masterpiece, it should be considered theft and violation of privacy to display it against the author's wishes. I realize i don't know the details, but if there was a direct request to throw away his work, it seems quite clear...
I was thinking about that too. It definitely does seem like a violation of privacy. However, if they did throw away his stuff they would be depriving the world of some really interesting and very influential art, which seems like a huge waste.
+Gediminas B not for me to answer but that brings up the questions of 1 what rights to ownership do the deceased have and 2 who owns rubbish as he requested it thrown out not destroyed.
+The Good Stuff but isn't that his choice to waste it? It's not like resources. Idk it seems so personal. Like I've never understood published post mortem diaries and works. Work that the creator thought wasn't good enough for the public that should be their choice even after they die. It just feels like a huge violation to me. Like what if you had a large collection of like memoirs or something hidden away intended to be destroyed after you die and then it happens by accident and everything you have ever made is published? It feels so disrespectful, trying to find out all this stuff about this guy's life when he obviously just wanted to be left alone.
The murder of a little girl in the news broke this man’s heart so badly that he was determined to “fix” the injustice by rewriting the girls life as a fictional heroine who overcomes abuse. This man was so good and the story of his life is so heartbreaking that it literally brings me to tears every time. RIP Henry, artist and protector of children.
scales, goat horns, reptile parts, whips, ripped open bellies - he witnessed terrible acts on children. Anyone in the subject knows what this refers to.
I think creating that art was his way of therapy and healing from his sad childhood, maybe that's why he never felt like publishing it, because it is so personal.
He also hadn't finished it from the amount that was found and un sorted into volumes. He may have been so obsessive he wanted to do the entire thing in one action, ie, get it all published at once. He obviously gave up when he asked his landlord to find a retirement home for him to go to. He didn't do anything then about his works. He had obviously abandonded his opus. A throwaway line was obvious when he asked his landlord to throw it all away.
ScooterZn I don't think he ever intended to publish.
Indeed sounds like he created his art as therapy, as a way of dealing with his childhood traumas, the abuse and, likely, exploitation he experienced at the Asylum for Feeble Minded Children. Even the name already sounds like the management there thought they could just overrule and exploit these children without any resistance. I mean, some of the images he made clearly refer to the lasso's that were used to capture run-aways. I think this is the origin of his Glandelinians. The fact that he went through one of the worst - if not the worst - war of mankind cannot have helped in improving his world-view and need for therapy. I think these two major events in his life probably drove the story and that he realised the harshness and cruelty in it that - though intended as personal therapy - he thought would not be understood by the outside world... A truly haunting story...
It is a great therapy. I have been drawing a comic strip for almost fifty years. I publish a small part of it, but most of it is never seen by anyone. Every couple of years I burn about fifty pounds of unpublished pages.
I think the act of writing a story and doing the illustrations was an escape from his life. He created a fantasy life inside a book. He also put himself as the protector of the children in his story.
I came here after listening to a podcast episode about murdered children; a little girl named Elsie Paroubek was killed in Chicago in 1911 and her picture fascinated Darger.... She became Anna Arondale, the leader of the Vivian Girls!!
In a time when girls didn't hold any power at all, he made them strong, independent heroines ❤️ thank you, Henry! I wish I could have met you.
He murdered her
@@nunyanunya6398 ha 1-61 completed. was bored at work, talk about a playlist, was at work, talk a playlist, was work, a playlist, work, playlist
@@nunyanunya6398 no
The art would never have been appreciated like this if he had published it during his lifetime.
THIS IS NOT ART IS PEDOPHILE CRIMES
@TabZa123 I think so too. The public likely would have been merciless to this man who evidently just wanted to be left alone.
Yeah agreed... the curator made that great point that his not having ambition to sell or show it, but only to create it for himself make it essentially outsider, pure, uncompromised and wild. He was really not of this world!... Another doc, the Nova doc, said that he would be alone in his room and they would hear him having intense conversations, sometimes in other languages, all in different voices. And for 10 years he became obsessed with recording the weather several times a day in a crusade to prove the arrogance and wrongness of the weather man's forecast, scribbling comments about how the weatherman was making a fool of himself and an affront to God for daring to claim he could predict weather. Fascinating alien guy!!
What a fascinating and creative man. I've just recently started looking into Darger's life and art and love the whole idea of the socially rejected recluse secretly creating a new world for himself in art.
Sounds like the stuff of a good movie too
I've read several things in the comments below that are not quite right... but that's this video's fault: Darger did not want his worked destroyed, he was very ill at the very end of his life and was moved to a hospital, the landlords enter his room to make some cleaning and found his arta, they went to see Darger at his bed in the hospital and asked him "what should we do with this? We think is marvelous... can we keep it?" and he thought about it for a moment and then said "if yoi like it then you can do whatever you want with it" short after that he died. Also, the naked androginous girls look like that because Darger himself never saw a naked woman in his life, so he didn's even know about different sets of genitalia. he never had sex with any woman because he had a sister and they were split appart at a very young age, Darger was scared he could end up in bed with her by mistake if he ever tried to have sex, so either way he never really know anything about the subjetc.
I highly recomment the docummentary "In the realms of unreal", is a ver complete and interesting analysis of Darger's life and work... not like this video.
That's just a theory born from bigotry bcs he was mentally ill. Assuming an artist drew something a certain way bcs "he didn't know any better" is... belittling and insulting and generally something you should never do when 'appreciating art' as snobby as that sounds
He lived in the 20th century first of all, not the damn 18th. He was placed in institutions and he worked at a hospital.. (yeah as maintenance staff but still) ... 'he never saw what women look like' come on -___-
This is not true. He obviously knew female anatomy, because he worked in different hospitals. And he was separated from his sister because his mother died in labour. The child got adopted almost since her birth.
@@sebastianchris7531 i hope she finds out and leaves you
@@pink_alligator So true!! How in the world could he live so many years and never see an image of a nude female, let alone not see a naked girl being changed in a park pool, or growing up with a sister... come on! He made those girls surreal and super powered with horns and wings... he knew what the heck he was doing!!!!!!!!
I think it’s something you are compelled to do. It’s something that happens inside your mind and Henry found an outlet, his art. Being published or not was never the point, he had to do it.
Jd salinger was the same way. He wrote for himself the rest of his life after regretting publishing the catcher in the rye
His two biggest traumas blurred together, war and his infancy.
"can it be considered art if only the artist sees it" - yes! what? yes. You think when Goya was painting on the walls of his house he gave a shit what you thought?
He didn't tell the landlord to throw his art away. One of the landlords wanted to dispose of it upon discovery. Darger might not have cared much about what he created, but its still 40 years of work. He was searching dumpsters to find crayons and pencils to draw with, nothing could stop him. A true artist
This was so powerful. I watched it two times, some parts even more times, right away... I am so moved by the story of this man, thank you for introducing me to him.
This made me think how many great artworks that has spanned decades and has been lost because no one saw their value so it's great the landlord saw some value in his "artworks".
Yeah, what a loving great rooming home he had, those landlords and that good neighborough!
Art in it's purest form is about creative expression. Concerns for what others will think, and fear of that shame reduce purity of expression, and therefore it's purity as art.
I get outsider art. Of course he would've wanted to be appreciated. The most telling part is he said he didn't value what he did, and told the landlord to throw it away. Most people never devote the time or have the passion to do what he did, just the sheer volume and attention to detail, seeing his vision to the end for the sheer joy alone is remarkable, most people who have had such a disadvantaged life find themselves on the outside of society looking in and are treated as if they had no personal currency, because society has a very narrow definition of success, and the pressure is immense to conform as we all can attest to. their quality and value aren't appreciated or respected as most people deride high culture as frivolous and a waste of time in even the most accepted forms. The act alone of rebelling against that pressure makes it worthwhile to many people who have seen his work, and to be original using the most common symbols from regular culture and turning into his own vision and to make it truly compelling instead of just making some pale imitation of what he saw (which is typically all you could reasonably expect from someone like him) makes it significant even if he wasn't "allowed" to think so, but I believe he tried in his own way to make the best story he was capable of. I personally find it kind of creepy and weird, but also beautiful, it's his story, not necessarily the art or the person for me. but newsflash you don't have to accept it all to appreciate it.
why is no one turning the Realms of the Unreal into a pdf file that everyone could read?
Money
I am so happy to see that he found something that worked for him.
It's no secret that I'm a huge Darger fan. I've always wanted to go to that gallery.
If no one hears the tree fall, it's totally still art. The more I learn about contemporary art, I think that the entire goal of the 70's was to make the question "is it art" obsolete. This kind of making imaginative drawing fits pretty comfortably into any definition of art anyway.
I think he was embarrassed of his art due to the fact that people might think he's crazy for drawing naked and murdered children.
Also was this book ever published and were his art pieces included?
I'm pretty sure the guy was crazy regardless.
No, who would publish a 15,000 page book? Who would buy it at that time? Do you have any idea how much it would cost to publish a book like that? How much would it cost? I can't think of anything even remotely comparable to his works. Even A Dance To The Music Of Time and Remembrance Of Things Past together would only add up to around 40 % of Dargers major work and then there is the added cost of plate setting for the pictures. I can't see that Darger, from what I have read of him and his life, would agree to revising, editing or cutting parts out to publish the work and the pictures were essential to his work.
Obviously, who else would devote their life to such a project?
Erik Högman Considering what was done to him by the government how could he emerge in one piece?
@@ScooterZn The only way it could even be possible is if "The Realms of the Unreal" were published in volumes.
I've been privileged to see a lot of original Darger art in person and it is stunning. Pure outsider stuff and nothing else is like it. Is it great, is it bad, it doesn't matter. It is the product of a singular mind and it is fascinating. This little documentary only touches on the more mainstream offerings. There are some wild things that are even more interesting.
I'm so intrigued when it comes to art and mysteries.
When a song is anonymously written, or a piece is made by "Unknown" or in this case, never meant to be seen by anyone, it unlocks my imagination and makes me wonder about the entire process of making art.
+Ben Aaron
Or is art still a mystery to you because not all of Ben's memories were transferred to you in the cloning process, Steve?
nakyer Muah ha ha ha ha!
Ben Aaron
Your evils will be uncovered and then you shall rue the day you...something.
Great outsider art. Art is in the eyes of the beholder. Even the horror of his battle scenes as disturbing as they are, show great thought and creativity. Nice video guys!
This channel is seriously underrated! You guys are awesome! :)
Nothing gets lost in the universe. Even if there's no one to "see" it, there are other realities.
A recent book by Olivia Laing The Lonely City considers Darger. I had never heard of Darger before but she gives him a respectful and even elegant consideration.
I find this fascinating because this wasn't just a world he created, it was his own personal world that he labored over to create.
If you guys are interested in doing more on outsider artists I'd highly recommend looking into the musician Jandek.
For all of you please watch Fredrik Knudsen's down the rabbit hole about him, he was a tragic and interesting figure
Thank you I will!
This is fascinating guys. Really awesome work. I definitely have a new place to check out next time I'm in Chicago.
Yes, I believe it can be considered art even when only the artist sees it. Art is the artistic expression of the artist, regardless of who sees it.
Why else would we be interested in the paintings of artists who reused canvases that said artists painted over. The artists themselves decided they didn't want to share them with the world for whatever reason, but people still try to see what is under the top layer of paint.
Thank you for all the interesting content of your channel, good stuff indeed.
(Greetings from Brazil)
Olá. Vc é o único brasileiro que vi por aqui , como posso fazer pra ver um vídeo ou encontrar a biografia de Henri darger , eu não entendo o inglês no vídeo e não achei onde ativar legendas para o português ?
This is really interesting. Thank you. I'm off to learn more.
He was healing himself through a primitive art therapy
He sounds like he was a wonderful man. It's a bummer life wasn't better to him while he was alive. But it's very cool that he's getting recognition now
Great episode guys! Keep up the good work.
Anyone raised in the state system can appreciate this art. To others it may be perplexing at best. Just take it at face value. The people meant to understand it will do just that.
Excellent. Thanks for creating this video!
Absolutely loved this! Never heard of the guy before and I just watched the whole documentary about him. Cheers
The Nova documentary is also amazing with interviews from his landlords, and neighbour and the story narrated with his imagery brought to life. its funny and wild
depends on how the word "art" is defined: if we only mean "that created by humans" then the scope is limited. If we say "that which is aesthetically pleasing" then everything we see is art.
Literally just handed in a uni essay on outsider art, this would've been so helpful like 2 months ago x
Me alucina Henry Darger. Sus imágenes son increíblemente bellas y terribles. Y si, por supuesto que es Arte con mayúsculas.
First the lady below Isabell Xie, sums it up, and secondly, I doubt Henry had any idea how to share his artwork. And if for some reason he did know how to share his stuff, he probably didn't want to let his wonderful, beloved drawings get away from him. The drawings were so personal and he loved them dearly. "They were his babies," to coin a phrase that is already coined.
Thanks for making and posting this.
That room is not the filthy room that he was living in. According to the biographer it was filled floor to ceiling with string, empty bottles and newspapers.
The woman said in the video it was a lot cleaner in the replicate than the real version
Will there ever be a possibility of a publisher releasing the story? I've been fascinated by it for years and have wanted to read it. If nothing else, do we know whether Darger could actually write or was this work ramblings?
Critically Insane I've read extracts and the answer is largely no..The interest is in the text illuminating the imagery rather than vice versa.
@@anonb4632 It would have to be an illustrated work I guess as intended then. The Nova doc did a good job of creating a narrative from his words and his writing sounded cool and unique like his pictures, so maybe it would be more the universe's longest illustrated poem if published.
8:32 How do you know it's art unless someone else tells you it's art? Speaking as a creative myself, I don't care whether other people consider what I do art or not. I'll do it regardless of what other people tell me, because I'm driven to do it. I can't NOT do it. It's like any other bodily function. No one seeks praise for eating, or defecating, or smiling, or blinking, etc. External validation would be nice, but it's irrelevant to what I do, because I'm doing it for myself, reflexively. People who don't have the same drive might find this hard to understand. But it's like what McCoy said to Spock in Star Trek III: "You mean I have to die to discuss your insights on death?" Exactly.
couldn't agree more!?
Awesome thank you for this video, I've heard of him (mostly through the Natalie merchant song, and interviews she did at the time), but knew very little, it was cool to see more artwork, and learn more about him.
Funny thing is he never actually went to the front or Europe. He never left training in Texas. So all that shit was floating around in his brain and trauma from childhood.
If art is a mirror to oneself, then this is something worth seeing. Did you see perversion? Did you see mutilation? Did you see innocence? Did you see asexuality? Did you see the power of femininity unfettered by puberty? Did you see...?
What you see is what you are. It is not your answer you should be concerned with - but rather the reason (in your own head) for your answer that should concern you. And, if like me, you consider all these things - have we become so considerationary that the true message of the art is lost? How we, or I, lost our, or my, way? This outcome is equally disconcerting.
Making this great art.
I don't see what this has to do with basically anything, but I'm glad you covered it and it's cool that folks are getting a lot out of it.
Are you kidding? What’s not to like? LOVE
You asked if a tree falls in the forest is it still art or something, and I think oh no test! I'm not going to know the answer! It is art if no one sees it, because the greatest performances are about transition. That's it, changing from one state of mind to another, but it's no small feat. it's not hot to cold, it's a complete180. it only has two roles to imitate life and instruct, and what that is is up to interpretation. we should be honored to a glimpse into the how because it's so rare. it doesn't matter if its transitioning from victim to hero, or good to bad or vice versa. that's the meaning of Henry Darger's life, even if it's just the desire. If I'm not mistaken George Lucas never flew the millenium falcon either. If he were a kook or a one trick pony, which you would assume he would be if he had talent and was simply nuts, he isn't, he strives for change of some sort, to something with some meaning, not just the insanity he was subjected to or locked away in his prison of four walls. most characters in popular culture stay the same, never evolving they just stick with what's accepted, but it isn't recognised as art, In music literature or movies it's commercial garbage, or it's fairly well written fluff. Jason Vorhees stays Jason Vorhees in all umpteen remakes and it sells like hotcakes.Poor to rich doesn't count either, just ask any lotto winner. in Darger's case it's the secret of his subconscious dreams come to life. His secret is locked up somewhere in there and we'll never know, We'll never know where art comes from either, I keep asking why for god sakes Henry why? I find that question cool as hell.
No! Lost is a fantastic show in every single season. Even the ending was great!
Here's an interesting tidbit I found on him: : Henry Darger's grave can be found in All Saints Cemetery in Des Plaines, Iowa.
The headstone reads: "Henry Darger. Artist and Protector of Children."
I don't think if he went public with that work back then, it would not have become so popular as it is today.
I just think it's popular right now because it is a well preserved piece of history. Maybe his story would have gained some ground though, it sounds really good.
But the art itself? I don't think so.
It's good that this man had a way to express himself though, it's always good if people have a method for doing so.
Having all that said, being a self taught artist back then was way harder then it is today.
Today there is almost a limitless amount of ways to gain knowledge on art trough the Internet, and it is more viable option for people today to take lessons if they really wanted to.
And there is certainly potential in his work. Makes you wonder what he could have made if he had a opportunity to take lessons.
This episode felt a bit like the Art Assignment, but different. I liked it :D
Shambala! .. great documentary... just loved it and the subject, thank you!!!
Although his art is personal, I see it in the context of history, how society dealt with children. Today in 2024, I’m learning about family court corruption and the industry. The industry of exploitation was something he experienced. I think it’s time to bring this shadow to light and fulfill his vision.
Bert Paulson brings up a significant detail that this video completely ignores. And in so doing misrepresents Darger. It's not really honest to leave this detail out. "His work can sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars." And yet Darger worked as a janitor and lived in a simple room.
It's hard not to think that he was picked over by vultures after his death.
Which detail?
It's funny you should say that one should stop at season 2 of Lost. That's exactly where I stopped since I'd watched the first couple seasons on DVD, but season 3 was halfway over by the time I'd done that, and I never got around to going back to it later. Guess maybe I dodged a bullet on that one :0).
keep up the great work!!!!, ty
I really wish I could read the books so bad :(
I guess art is very subjective.
Celebrating an outsider just for being an outsider is something that is quite obscure to me, or just plain stupid.
That being said, in Henry Darger's case, you can really see the pain leftover from his childhood.
Let Disney make a Trilogy of the Vivian Girls! 😉
Please let them not do that. Give it to someone who won't screw it up or else leave it be.
@@hastobe303 Tim Burton? Fellini's dead so he's out
NO have you seen their behavior destroying Star wars, hiring Harvey Weinstein's assistant, Kathleen Kennedy, and intentionally making theme park attractions unsafe.
Thank you.
Very similar to the 'Art' 'The Podesta Brothers', like to collect.
Fredrik Knudsen's down the rabbit hole about him,
Regards from Scotland.
this was so great. I need to go see this
Art doesn't need an audience. Curators and creators can share and make art, and people can enhance and change the experience of art. But at its core, art just is.
Soo many questions! Has anyone ever read the entire novel? It hasn't been published, so is some of it incomplete? Missing or unreadable pages?
I wish I could read all of The Realms Of The Unreal. I'd love to own physical copies of it.
Uuh, I think I can see exactly why he kept it all secret...
+Nic Bold Is it the penises? It is the penises...
That, the mutilation; the general vibe really.
+Nic Bold Go bowling!
Moral of this story: no one respects a dead artist's wishes. Non profits are not really that. People take salaries. Ahem.
Greeeeeeeeeeat stuff guys! Keep it up.
@3:08 Seems more along the lines of some ultra-complex epic by Suzy McKee Charnas, Joanna Russ, Ursula K. Le Guin, or Izumi Suzuki rather than Tolkien.
It's nice to see Gerry from Strangers With Candy found a job. She became quite the curator. 😂🤓
art is an expression of ones self and people can experience expression in many forms. so if this is true then it only takes someone to experience the expression for it to be considered art, even if that is only ones self.
Hey +The Good Stuff
Since you mentioned it, fun fact about the recipe for Coca Cola; the Coca Cola company didn't patent the recipe. So if you found the recipe, you could legally make it and sell it.
That is you could have done that until it became illegal to use any part of the coca plant in any recipe in the U.S. You may have heard the myth that Coca Cola used to have cocaine in it. It's a little unclear whether they actually had cocaine in the original recipe, but cocaine does come from the coca plant, which is and has always been an ingredient for Coca Cola.
When it became illegal to use the coca plant, there was a grandfather clause that allowed Coca Cola to continue it's use of the coca plant as long as they don't use actual cocaine.
That's why you'll never find a store brand cola that tastes like Coca Cola. You may find one that tastes like Pepsi though.
+Jon Berglind Yes it had cocaine in it via the coca-leave ingredient. refined cocaine was never added. They twice tweaked the recipe, first to remove all but a trace of the cocaine, and secondly to remove even that trace. This happened ages ago. The cocaine is extracted and sold to the pharmaceutical industry. Other cola manufacturers are absolutely allowed to use the decocainated coca leaves; but I'm too lazy to investigate if any actually bother to or not.
Lots of recipes choose to be "trade secret" instead of "patented" because if you obtain a patent, that patent must describe the invention, so when the patent expires in 20 years, anyone can just copy it...also, recipes don't normally count as inventions.
Now this is some Good Stuff.
That is so interesting, amazing and in a way, very sad.
very nice.
Darger wasn't about pity which is what i feel this video puts him into. he was just interesting
Intuit was founded in 1983 and makes tax & accounting software. Intuit gallery was founded in 1991. Interesting...
I'm thinking how if this kind of art trove, with its particular subject matter, was discovered today we would think any man who owned it was some kind of deplorable pervert and have it incinerated.
The back ground music on your videos are to loud.
did anyone noticed the screen colour change at 5:19
yes - that was weird
Does anybody know what piece the art at 6:31 is from?
Art is art regardless whether or not others see it. Would it have become popular? Not, unless the buyers had some "strange" reason to buy it. That said, I think he was an artist. It's just a primitive form of Picasso's Guernica and the horrors of war (or what we know very well, is happening, children being kidnapped and put through torture and often killed, while people keep letting it continue.) He painted real life, but the real life most people pretend is not real. Of course, he wanted it tossed. He had to be a bit insane, having to deal with was in his "imagination".
2:25 Ooh, now TheGoodStuff is using Jake Chudnow music too.
His art was done at a time when art of young slave girls was not exactly acceptable , he probably felt it best to keep it secret. Religion was quite repressive in those days.
Winks
Lisa
Lisa Lovely LPA The art is about religion. The martyrdom is straight out of the history of RCism.
素晴らしい才能！
I feel like Outsider Art and underground art is just better.
Art exists in of itself.
Does anyone know the song that begins at the 7:20 mark? I love that guitar.
idk but if you like stuff like that you should listen to this band called covet :-)
great person
Bob Ross? cool
8:41 Shamalan is not how you pronounce Mr. Night Shyamalan's last name.
I like and want to know more
so the guy asked the landlord to throw away his stuff and instead they decided to display and analyze it? that hardly seems fair. Even if this work was an absolute masterpiece, it should be considered theft and violation of privacy to display it against the author's wishes. I realize i don't know the details, but if there was a direct request to throw away his work, it seems quite clear...
I was thinking about that too. It definitely does seem like a violation of privacy. However, if they did throw away his stuff they would be depriving the world of some really interesting and very influential art, which seems like a huge waste.
+The Good Stuff ‘very influential art’ [citation needed]
+Gediminas B not for me to answer but that brings up the questions of 1 what rights to ownership do the deceased have and 2 who owns rubbish as he requested it thrown out not destroyed.
+The Good Stuff but isn't that his choice to waste it? It's not like resources. Idk it seems so personal. Like I've never understood published post mortem diaries and works. Work that the creator thought wasn't good enough for the public that should be their choice even after they die. It just feels like a huge violation to me. Like what if you had a large collection of like memoirs or something hidden away intended to be destroyed after you die and then it happens by accident and everything you have ever made is published? It feels so disrespectful, trying to find out all this stuff about this guy's life when he obviously just wanted to be left alone.
+Gediminas B What about friends or family?
is the story any good?
3:55 it sounds like she’s saying Bob Ross with a lisp.
first anime trap waifu manga ever made