The gap between psychiatry and art

In the twentieth century the relationship between art and psychiatry was dominated by two extreme views. On the one hand it was argued that all art that deviated from the familiar belonged to the pathological and degenerate world of lunatics, while on the other the creations of mentally disturbed people were viewed very highly because madness was thought to guarantee original and authentic results. This latter view was held particularly by many twentieth-century artists, but at the same time it was an obstacle to any form of rapprochement. The Fifth Season is one of the few art projects in which this dichotomy is broken down. According to Jos ten Berge it has provided a foundation for a new and much more fruitful rapprochement between art and psychiatry than had previously been the case.