DIRECTLY I NFLUENCED BY Paul Cezanne
5.6 AXIAL CODE V OBSESSIVE BEHAVIOUR
i) OBS General obsessive behaviour I Phobias
ii) Work frenzy obsession I Total absorption I Speed of work
iii) PERS Perseveration I obsession into later life
iv) Sexual obsessions I voyeurism I fantasy I erotomania v) Collective acquisition actions I Trophies
vi) CA Consumption obsessions - drugs, alcohol, smoking, overeating, clothing
vii) Ritual obsessions
viii Thanatophobia I morbid fear of human corpses I
death obsessions, sex-death linkage, sado-necrophiliac
5.61
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CODE OBS - GENERAL OBSESSIVE BEHAVIOUR I PHOBIASEXAMPLES
"Music took possession of my mind": "He was driven to compose" Pyotr Tchaikovsky (Dobrin, 1 970, p. 78)
"I'm fated to work to the last gasp" Guiseppe Verdi (Martin, 1 965, p.466)
"Without luxury, Wagner cannot work, cannot live!" : "His desire for luxury extends beyond his own needs." Richard Wagner (Millington, 1 984, p. 1 7 1 )
"Had a morbid need to suffer and be rejected - a compulsive loser" Edgar Allan Poe (Mankowitz, 1 978, p.49)
"The house where he was born was rubble. The sense of loss never left him" EM Forster (Beanman, 1 993, p.6)
"Obsessive work and play habits! An exact timetable. Wrote 250 words every quarter hour." Anthony Trollope (Snow, 1 975, p.86)
"He was more sex-obsessed than anyone I know" Wystan Auden (Davenport-Hines, 1 995, p.88)
DISCUSSION
Obsessive behaviour originally related to a haunting idea that constantly invades the consciousness of a subject, resulting in actions and ideas which appear to be
beyond the will of a person to control.
The concept has now widened in scope to mean the more inclusive, obsessive compulsive disorder term, with recurrent and persistent thoughts, ideas and feelings and ritualised behaviour. Relief from internal tensions through excessive drinking, gambling, eating and drug consumption, are also closely associated behaviours.
There are numerous classical examples of obsessional behaviour in history. These include Charles Dickens, Jonathan Swift, Or Johnson, Stravinsky, Rossini and l mmanuel Kant.
In this thesis, although a wide range of obsessions is documented, only WW work frenzy (Code 5.6-ii) and perseveration obsessions (Code 5.61 -iii) appeared to have a significant relationship with original creative enterprise, with phobias, collecting, sexual, consumption and thanatophobia obsessions playing a minor, less frequent role. These latter obsessions were therefore not included for comment in this section.
Biographical examples are provided especially from music and literature and the creative arts to a lesser extent, illustrating numerous forms of obsessions recorded by the thesis.
5.61 (11) CODE WJV-WORK FRENZY OBSESSION, TOTAL ABSORPTION,
SPEED OF WORK EXAMPLES
"Drowned himself in his work" Bela Bartok (Chalmers, 1 995, p. 1 88) "A phenomenally fast worker" Leonard Bernstein (Peyser, 1 987, p.346)
"Wholly committed to whatever she plays" Jacqueline Du Pre (Easaton, 1 989, p.67) "Never gets up from the piano - even to eat" Arturo Toscanini (Sachs, 1 978, p. 1 50) "I am in a state of work frenzy" Richard Wagner (Millington, 1 984, p. 1 32)
"A day is misused if she hadn't written something" Katherine Mansfield (Aipers, 1 982, p.3 1 )
"Wants to write out the pain" Virginia Woolf (Bell, 1 973, p.45) DISCUSSION
Work frenzy is obviously a significant element in original creative enterprise, and combined with other behavioural dimensions is an important element in this thesis. lt was observed that work frenzy alone is a common behavioural dimension and as such does not discriminate between original creativity of high order and normal less creative dimensions. lt is the network or synergy that is of importance, not a single isolated dimension.
The distinction between work as an experience and actual accomplishment may be illustrated by the following summary of work emotion references.
WORK EMOTIONS RECORDED BY DOMAIN
Music 1 61 References
Creative Arts 1 50 References
Literature 1 35 References
Science 1 28 References
Commerce 97 References
Common emotions expressed were: Speed of work
Total immersion in work Work as psychological relief Work frenzy
Need for perfection Work perseveration
lt is plainly incorrect to assume that musical composers work harder or produce a greater amount of original creations than those in science or commerce. All that may assumed is that the emotions associated with musical composition are more
prominent than in other disciplines in this sample of 1 00 personalities.
5 . 6 1 (111) CODE PERS - PERSEVERATION / OBSESSIONS IN LATER LIFE EXAMPLES
At 60 years of age, Marie Curie is dying of radiation sickness and comments - "I ought to stop working and live in the country, but I am held by a thousand bonds and could not live without the laboratory." (Quinn, 1 995, p.41 7)
Thomas Edison at 84 years of age - "I have no intention of quitting until the day before the funeral." (Baldwin, 1 995, p.387)
Giacomo Puccini - Only death prevented him completing the last 1 5 minutes of his masterpiece (Turandot). (Wilson, 1 997, p.2 1 5)
Benjamin Br�tten - "I must keep writing music!" (Carpenter, 1 992, p.366)
Dame Nellie Melba - At 66 years of age, refused to retire and gave 50 farewell performances. She needed adulation "like a drug." (Cheshire, 1 967, p.262) Guiseppe Verdi - Forever composing. lt was the habit of a lifetime. (Martin, 1 965, p.466)
lgor Stravinsky - At 80, still marking up work. (Dobrin, 1 970, p. 1 75)
Claude Monet - Is 85 years old. He is in constant pain. All his old friends - Renoir, Sisley, Manet and his wife are dead. His sight is failing and needed operations to
enable him to see the true colour spectrum. He has promised Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau to complete his enormous Water Lily decorations for the state. His last letters are dated September 1 926. -"I'm getting the upper hand, and working passionately. I'm not giving up hope and am occupying myself with some major alterations in my studio and plans to perfect the garden. All this to show you ·
that, with courage, I will overcome." Monet died about two months after this letter was written. (Kendall, 1 989, p.265)
DISCUSSION
One of the most penetrating insights of this dimension is provided by Riesman (1 950). He pictures behavioural conformity and consequently the relatively unalterable behaviour of the "inner directed" personality as a "psychological gyroscope" keeping this individual "on course" throughout life (pp. 1 5, 1 6). The importance of this behavioural dimension will be referred to again as the "clusters" of original creative behaviour are examined in Chapter 8.
5.61 IV CODES OS, OC, CA, RI & OTH
5 . 6 1 V CODE OS SEXUAL OBSESSIONS, VOYEURISM, FANTASY,
EROTOMANIA
5 . 6 1 VI CODE OC COLLECTIVE ACQUISITION ACTIONS, TROPHIES
5.61 VII CODE CA CONSUMPTION OBSESSIONS - DRUGS, ALCOHOL,
SMOKING, OVEREATING, CLOTHING
5.61 VIII CODE RI RITUAL OBSESSIONS
5.61 IX CODE OTH THANATOPHOBIA , MORBID FEAR OF HUMAN CORPSES,
DEATH OBSESSIONS, SEX-DEATH LINKAGE, SADO NECROPHILIAC
5 . 7 AXIAL CODE VI - ACTION CATEGORIES
The samples were derived from the Bibliography documentation. A+ A POSITIVE ACTION, NOT NECESSARILY A MAJOR ACHIEVEMENT,
Kept scrupulous accounts
Good concentration skills and attention to detail
EXAMPLES
Charles Darwin Ernest Rutherford Elton John
E M Forster
Delivered his first virtuoso performance -Lady Samantha Began to write his first novel (Nottingham) at 21 years of age
DISCUSSION
In this thesis an Action Code (A+) refers to the actual performance of some function or the occurrence of a process.
The usage of this code is fairly broad and may either denote an overt action such as writing, keeping accounts or composing a musical score where the action is
conscious and purposive or may be more covert and internalised.
The concept of attention to detail, memory (an internalised action) focus branding (a commercial action) and innovation (a further internalised action) has been added into the A+ Code.