The emptiness of madness
 

"The mad state is, as [Artaud] emphasizes over and over again, empty. Teeming with emptiness. Knotted on emptiness. Immodest in its emptiness. You can pull emptiness out of it by the handful. 'I am not here. I am not here and never will be.' You can pull it out endlessly."
Anne Carson, quoted by Hedva (132)
 
"For Artaud the real drawback of being mad is not that consciousness is crushed and torn but that he cannot say so, fascinating as this would be, while it is happening. But only later when somewhat 'recovered' and so much less convincingly."
Anne Carson, quoted by Hedva (132-3)

> from Johanna Hedva's How To Tell When We Will Die: On Pain, Disability, and Doom (2024)

> tagged with #consciousness, #void, #ecstasy, #mental_illness,

> created July 26, 2025 at 10:06:34 AM


> part of unfinished everything


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unfinished everything is an original work / ongoing project (1997-present) by jeremy p. bushnell

selection, arrangement, and original text available for creative reuse under this licensing arrangement

authors' quoted words are their own.


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