How a Mental Disorder Opened up an Invisible World of Color and Pattern
As Wain’s condition worsened, so his pictures of cats became more abstract until, towards the end of his life, they were barely recognisable as cats at all, instead becoming intricately detailed, fractal shapes full of unnaturally (at least for a cat) bright colours. The foreknowledge that they are images of felines allows the viewer to pick up on certain shapes – the pointy triangular ears and some features of the face – but without it, you would be hard-pressed to realise these are cats.
The tale of Wain’s life is a sad one. For a time he was a successful artist, but a series of poor investment decisions left him penniless and he began to develop mental health problems in the early 20th century. He deteriorated quickly, becoming a suspicious and sometimes violent man, prone to incoherent, rambling speech. In 1924 he was incarcerated in the pauper ward at Springfield Mental Hospital in Tooting, south London, not far from where I live. After intervention by some famous and influential figures, including Stanley Baldwin, the Prime Minister of the day, and H.G. Wells, Wain was transferred to more pleasant surroundings. He ended his days in Napsbury Hospital, north of London, which had a garden and, happily for Wain, a colony of cats. In this environment he was able to resume drawing, and it was here he produced some of his most spectacular work.
The similarity of Wain’s later paintings to fractals is striking. Fractal patterns exist, of course, in nature, and can be glimpsed in aerial photographs of coastlines and mountain chains, and even in the foliage of trees, but the earliest computer-generated images of idealised fractal patterns that we are familiar with today were not produced until the 1970s. There would appear to have been something about Wain’s condition that allowed him to perceive and represent these invisible natural patterns long before anyone else had seen them.
Greenpeace’s “Become David” campaign: Part of the “Now David Will” initiative by international independent campaigning organization Greenpeace, the “Become David” print spread shows David fighting against oil rigs, overfishing, deforestation and air pollution. The black and white illustrations give an ancient tale modern significance, visually representing the state of current environmental affairs. The drawings are the work of German-based artist Anatolij Pickmann for Draftfcb/Lowe Group and were printed in the Greenpeace newspaper entitled “Daily David.”
How a mental disorder opened up an invisible world of colour and pattern: As Wain’s condition worsened, so his pictures of cats became more abstract until, towards the end of his life, they were barely recognisable as cats at all, instead becoming intricately detailed, fractal shapes full of unnaturally (at least for a cat) bright colours. The foreknowledge that they are images of felines allows the viewer to pick up on certain shapes – the pointy triangular ears and some features of the face – but without it, you would be hard-pressed to realise these are cats. The tale of Wain’s life is a sad one. For a time he was a successful artist, but a series of poor investment decisions left him penniless and he began to develop mental health problems in the early 20th century. He deteriorated quickly, becoming a suspicious and sometimes violent man, prone to incoherent, rambling speech. In 1924 he was incarcerated in the pauper ward at Springfield Mental Hospital in Tooting, south London, not far from where I live. After intervention by some famous and influential figures, including Stanley Baldwin, the Prime Minister of the day, and H.G. Wells, Wain was transferred to more pleasant surroundings. He ended his days in Napsbury Hospital, north of London, which had a garden and, happily for Wain, a colony of cats. In this environment he was able to resume drawing, and it was here he produced some of his most spectacular work.
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Selections from Andrew Baird’s project Illuminations
Baird on his project:
Illuminations comprises an ongoing collection of portraits of scientists, each highlighting the work of that individual as a part of the greater project of science. As the importance of supporting rational enquiry increases in the face of shallow, populist and often irrational responses to the many problems faced by humanity we need more than ever to get behind those best equipped to illuminate a way forward. We live in a society deeply indebted to the work of scientists, yet their presence in the public consciousness is mostly eclipsed by sports personalities, movie actors, popular entertainers and even politicians. This project aims to redress that imbalance in some small way. The portraits are all executed with the subject’s eyes closed. This puts the focus onto the inward nature of the scientist’s work, while presenting a meditative and thoughtful visage. With the eyes closed the portrait becomes less about the subject’s personality than about their work. To further enhance this, a pictorial representation of their field of endeavour is placed in the hands, brilliantly lit in vibrant contrast to the human figure. The message is that the quiet, ongoing work of scientists, in the interests of our common good is something to be applauded. These are the heros we need.
Created by Michelle Legro of Lapham’s Quarterly, Maria Popova of Brain Pickings & Illustrator Wendy MacNaughton as part of Longshot magazine’s Debt issue, “Circles of Influence” is a chart of artistic, scientific, and philosophical debts through time.
Hello. I'm Kevin. I'm French and I currently live in Montreal where I study Business and Environmental Science at Concordia University. You'll find here some of the things that I read and find interesting. 
