In class, we have been talking about Nietzche's view on Apollonian tendencies versus Dionysian tendencies. The Apollonian views are when there is order and reason, like a dream you wake up from. The Dionysian view is one in which reflects passion, intoxication, and frenzy, or like a state that destroys your life.
In life, I believe that we do have these tendencies, but I wonder if Nietzche believes if you can be completely one or the other at points in your life. Though we all have tendencies for both sides, I wonder if tendencies can be compared to instances within your life. Nietzche says, “If we add to this terror the blissful ecstasy that wells from the innermost depths of man, indeed of nature, at this collapse of the principium individuationis, we steal a glimpse into the nature of the Dionysian, which is brought home to us most intimately by the analogy of intoxication.”
I believe I had more than a glimpse. I keep being drawn back to a personal experience with drugs. I was completely out of control of my body. I had taken a drug called ecstasy along with smoking some other stuff. I had an out-of-body experience. I could see my self from above, but I couldn't gain control of my body. It felt like a complete Dionysian experience. “He is no longer an artist, he has become a work of art.” I feel like I became the work of art in a world completely separate from reality.
Though there are two views, I can't help but also wonder if Nietzche believes in a higher power that governs both. When I had that out-of-body experience, I realized that I didn't like being out of control of my own body. I made a decision that once I went away to college and left old friends behind, I would also leave behind addictive habits and drugs. I believe these tendencies can be related to the religious views of the Holy Spirit within Christians versus the “sinful nature” we are all born with. It's a constant war going on within my mind.
Dionysian “seeks to destroy the individual.” My sinful nature had taken control during that period in my life I struggled with drugs. Since I had that Holy Spirit inside of me, I felt that there was a higher power, God, that governed both sides. I realized that if I surrender to God, the higher power can control my life and help me live by the Holy Spirit rather than the sinful nature. I wonder if Nietzche believes in a higher power that can govern both, or if you are in control of your own tendencies towards Apollinian or Dionysian.
I can carry this proposal and question over to art and how we judge it. Is there a higher power within art? Though there may be order and chaos in the same piece of work, can the "composition" govern the piece? Or is the artist the higher power? Do we look at the artist and judge their tendencies? How about over multiple works? Or maybe an artist displays the opposite tendencies in their work. Art doesn't always reflect the artist's persona, but it could also be a reflection of what's missing in the artist.
I believe that in a work of art, the artist is the “higher power.” It is the artist's will and idea that creates the work in the first place. It is the artist's personal muse that guides their idea and execution of the original concept. No one else can be in that artist's mind. In the same respect that I believe there is a higher power that governs humans, I believe that the artist governs the artwork. Overall, the artist knows that the piece will either be a success or not a success. Whether one tendency dominates another, is not an issue. If the piece has more Dionysian tendencies, where the piece is less controlled, or whether the piece is completely constructed with reason, Apollinian, is irrelevant to our judgments. I believe art should be judged on the artist's intent and the artist's execution, not based on design tendencies.
