From Francis Bacon to “the Man with the Starfish”

by | Vol 18 (2) 2000

Two cases are used to illustrate a failure in the tying of the psychosomatic knot, by making appear the game and inscribing it in an attempt to cure. The first concerns Francis Bacon, the contemporary painter. His paintings, in the main, depict bodies that are monstrous and deformed. Several interviews with him are quoted, throwing light on his dialogue with the canvas, what he demanded of it and how this related to his experience of his own body. The second shows Monsieur M., in analysis, questionning his relationship with others and the world in general, linking this in turn to the chronic somatic illness from which he suffers. He was forced to construct an original formalisation, which evokes his nickname here: “The Starfish Man”. Finally certain theoretical hypotheses are proposed which might serve as models for the relationship involved, its possible foundation and necessity.

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