A condition in which two closely related persons, usually in the same family, share the same delusion.
Implicit in the idea of the double madness of Folie ' deux is the twin.
This twinly madness, as the term was originally referred to, is a doubling of
singular delusions. This work makes a case for the double madness of the
single person, an illusion of twin. The folly lies in the delusion shared with
a phantom twin.
It is possible that many singletons, that is, people born alone -- not as a
twin, started life as a twin in foetal development. It has been suggested
that, in competition for resources, one foetus absorbs the other during
pregnancy. Several medical and scientific theories make a case for this
possibility by citing the frequent discoveries in adults of cysts containing bits of hair, teeth and spinal tissue. These are believed to be signs of a "Vanished Twin".
The Vanished Twin is that 'perfect other'. The 'other' that is at once equal but different, promising eternal companionship and understanding because it is, although other, identical. It is an Other that exists as a potential. The vanished and vanquished twin bridges the lamentable loss of identity. The
flipside of this coin is the conjoined twin, the 'Siamese' twin, the
Doppelg'nger. This is the inescapable twin. The uncanny, perfect Other that
can never be eluded. It is a twinship into which one is born and the death of
which marks one's own demise.
A twinning of one, a delusion of two. These tightropes are crossed with some
trepidation as they call into question a singular self-identity but they also
muse on the nature of madness and companionship. It is a bittersweet idea, "while the vanished twin assures us of a sempiternal human link, it affords us also the pathos of inexpressible loss."
Natalie Majaba Waldburger
Natalie Majaba Waldburger received her B.A. specializing in Women's Studies at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. In 1996, she graduated with Honours from the Ontario College of Art and Design receiving the Drawing and Painting Department Medal, the highest award in her department. Natalie has taught at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in the Media Arts Department where she completed an MFA in 2004.
Since graduation Natalie has received provincial and federal grants for her artwork, which she has been exhibiting since 1994. Her paintings are represented in various public, private and corporate collections in Europe, North America, and Australia.