Chaos Rainbows

Abstract

Chapter 4 provides an examination of the common states of mind arising out of openness, including schizotypy, reduced latent inhibition, and cognitive disinhibition. The chapter reconstructs a frame of mind artists themselves have a hard time describing. From there, questions center on the shaping, the organizing, and the ordering involved in art-making. Most of the chapter is dedicated to chaos and its roots in personality. But chaos alone isn’t enough. Creativity is making something. Chaos is a means to that end, the making. How the artist uses chaos is just as important as finding ways to stay open to it. Numerous artists are used as illustrations, including Bob Dylan, Jack Kerouac, Jerry Seinfeld, Steve Jobs, and Joni Mitchell. A four-step model for how raw materials get shaped into art is also presented.