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"Erase Me": Gary Numan's 1978-80 Recordings, John Bruni

Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture

This article considers the music of Gary Numan as a test case for questioning the traditional idea of individual artistic genius. Although Numan was diagnosed as autistic later in life, he claims that he exhibited signs of autistic behavior at the age of 14, which suggests that his music can reflect a different way of perceiving the world that is characteristic of autistic people. While arguing against the notion that autism distinctly influences art, the article considers the limitations of evaluating Numan’s work in the context of a humanist aesthetic that posits universal assumptions, based on an individual self, about …