Review of "The Devil and Daniel Johnston"

Daniel Johnston's artwork

The Devil and Daniel Johnston, directed by Jeff Feuerzeig, is a 2005 documentary chronicling the life of Daniel Johnston, an American singer-songwriter and artist, and his experiences with schizophrenia and how that manifested itself as satanic obsessions. Genius and art and music are all concepts that have historically had close ties with mental illness. This film emphasizes the question whether great artists always have to "tango with the devil."

The film begins with archival video and audio tapes that Johnston has recorded himself throughout his music career starting from his very beginning all the way to his success with his album, "Hi, How Are You," a span of over 20 years. Johnston is introduced in a folk club in his hometown, Austin, Texas, as "the greatest singer-songwriter alive." His sound is a lo-fi folk that is as raw as an artist can get, voice quivering and squeaking like a pre-pubescent and lyrics appealingly simple. Johnston starred on MTV for a short time and gained a sort of cult fanbase. Kurt Cobain hailed him as "the greatest living songwriter." 

Cobain wore a T-shirt with Johnston's iconic frog drawing, featured as his "Hi, How Are You" album cover, sparking a great interest among Nirvana fans for Daniel Johnston. His popularity exploded.

Following his relative success, Johnston experienced severe personality and mood changes, becoming completely obsessed with satanism and "the devil." He refused to sign a multi-album deal with Elektra because he was convinced that Metallica, also signed with Elektra, was possessed by Satan. He also put his manager in the hospital with wounds to head caused by a lead pipe and, believing himself to be Casper the Friendly Ghost, nearly killed his father and himself in a plane crash. 

The documentary shows interviews of Johnston's mother and father, manager, and close friends. They wear very natural costumes and makeup to emphasize the music and stay true to the theme. The cinematic effects such as the overlay of kaleidescope snowflakes over the archival footage shown in the film represent the disillusions of Johnston during those times in his life. Also, at about 47 minutes, there is a scene of the mental hospital to which Johnston was admitted. The building is white and beautiful but in this particular scene the sign on the building is broken and hanging ajar, perhaps underscoring that there is always a strangeness in beauty.

The Devil and Daniel Johnston shows just how intimate the relationship between artistry and mental illness can be and I enjoyed the film immensely. Whether you are a Johnston fan or dub him overrated, the film is creative, enjoyable, and fascinating in nature. 

so the world isn't ending I guess

So I'm pretty sure that the world isn't going to end next Friday, no matter how much I wish it would. According to NASA, "the world will not end in 2012. Our planet has been getting along just fine for more than 4 billion years, and credible scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with 2012."

Here is the article.

I can't say I'm truly disappointed because I didn't actually ever believe that the sun would really go out on Dec. 21st or that the Earth would experience a polar shift so drastic that it would cause a flurry of natural disasters. I merely fantasized about disappearing in a flash of white light along with the rest of the planet and hopefully being reborn as a rock on Neptune or something like that. 

Rocks have no burdens. They simply exist. And some rocks are beautiful like crystals or gems and some rocks are stars or meteors. Over time they are worn down into grains of sand whirling around in space until lots of grains build up each other to make new rocks. Planets all started out as just one little grain of sand. 

Thinking about the end of the world triggers me a little. Instead, I'll write an optimistic list:

Why I Am Glad The World Probably Won't End:

1. I haven't seen Lykke Li live
2. My mom owes me 8 dollars
3. I want to grow taller
4. I need to practice doing splits because I can only do the splits with my left leg forward, not right
5. never kissed a boy! me! never! nope! 
6. I want to try every flavor of cake in the whole world 
7. My other blog has 350 followers 
8. Living isn't so bad if you pretend you are a tree or some other plant
9. there are so many pretty things to see on Earth
10. I want to grow up and get a job and live in nyc or tokyo or paris or shanghai and buy expensive clothes and be kind of sad but still happy
11. I want to live to see scientists discover mermaids

poem #2

ten pruned fingers lie palms to the sky

on hard white marble.

the cold no longer induces a shivery gasp.

instead, sadness percolates

until the heart overflows 

and a dull lambency 

seeps out the ears.

Silk Art

Feeding on the Entrails of my Strung Out Mind

No, this is neither high speed photography nor ethereal jellyfish. This is a hand sewn sculpture of pigmented silk and threads done by Lisa Kellner. The gossamer fabric almost looks like ink diffusing in water, a gorgeous image to be captured by just silk and paint. Upon closer inspection, it also resembles organs or perhaps bulbous growths in the body. I feel almost melancholy looking at her work.

I am now resolved to take up art again as I have forgotten how much interest I have in it.

Please enjoy a few more pictures of Kellner's silk sculptures: