Daniel Johnston: Publicly Bipolar
I’ve recently discovered Daniel Johnston, the singer, songwriter and artist who suffers from bipolar disorder. His songs have been played by Tom Waits, among others, and he performs his own music live. He is also an artist, and while his art looks a bit cartoonish at first, that’s the point. Johnston finds the purity of the emotion expressed in cartoons fascinating, and seeks to reflect that in his work. If you are interested in seeing him live, you can find out his latest appearances on official website, appropriately names “Hi, How Are You”, after one of his more famous works of art. Oregon Live has also written an article about his concert in Portland tonight.
Commentary
Daniel Johnston really strikes a chord with me. Like him, I find illustration (in my case comic books) especially affecting. It’s the lack of subtlety that I enjoy, because subtlety is something that I, as someone with bipolar disorder, have never been very good at. All those emotional themes that play out in my emotions and in my life are played out at just the right level of mythos and pathos. As a result, I’ve been powerfully attracted to this kind of artwork my entire life.
One of the nicest things about Daniel Johnston, though, is the way that he is obviously bipolar. When he is on stage, he will sometimes visibly shake (perhaps from medications). His appearance depends on his moods. Sometimes he is very good, but other times, he is a little uneven. Normally, people with bipolar disorder try to hide the symptoms that are simply odd, not just the ones that are dangerous. For someone to be not only public about his bipolar but publicly bipolar is refreshing. For a great example, here is a video of Daniel Johnston singing his song “Go”:
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