At first sight, the catalogue might suffer from multiple-personae-disorder; published in both German and English for an exhibition shown in the French speaking city of Lausanne, it certainly was daring. The set up of the catalogue is also split into two clear parts with one dominated by pictures of the exhibits while the other is dominated by essays. And the pun in the title is taken further by some essayists in exposing the madness of collecting art as opposed to outsider artists producing art. It takes getting into the catalogue to find system in madness.

The featured German collection, having been amassed by Karin and Gerhard Dammann, does have strong work of arts to show to its credit. Exceptional pieces illustrated in the book include a 19th century bed frame showing hand-carved faces exuding pure nightmarish horrors; some heraldry dating from the 18th century done with expert knowledge of the craft and paranoid fantasy; and several madonna (as in church service, no as in pop singer) statues showing a creepiness that is capable of reducing children to tears according to Karin Dammann.

Leaving the picture part of the catalogue leaves you wondering what induces people to collect art like this. It is therefore logical that this theme should be taken up in the essays section of the catalogue, but it doesn’t answer this question directly, but rather generally for any kind of collector.

Some of the essays nicely turn the tables on the usual art story line with collectors rather than artists being treated to psychoanalytic treatment. One explaines that the extreme of collector is a Narcissus  who descends from fleeing personal relationships into accumulation, addiction and finally total isolation. But milder instances of the habit find a voice as well. One conclusion offered is that collecting helps the collector enhance/define/construct his identity in progressive order. At the same time, the author makes a case for those collectors willing to incorporate outsider work into their identities as setting a positive example. The inclusion of outsider art values art and artists that have been characterized by a long history of rejection and devaluation.

One essay explores the early part of that history reaching back to what is known of the early 1800s, while also documenting the history on art-related activities of the time before the Prinzhorn collection was started. The Prinzhorn collection (which signs as publisher for the catalogue) was accumulated at the Heidelberg Clinic by Dr. Prinzhorn as its Principal. She makes a clear case that the relation between psychiatric and aesthetic appreciation of work by asylum dwellers was fraught with tension from the beginning.

Further essays deal with collecting art out of psychiatric institutions for the sake of their aesthetic values. The label of ‘art brut’ was created to de-demonize the pedigree of art being valued on its own terms rather than in its connotation to psychiatric treatment. The label became a weapon in the war over the reorganisation of psychiatric treatment to modern standards. The negative aspect of this ‘war’ is also shown referring to conflicts over terminology that hampered the development of art brut being accepted as art at all.

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