Thursday, January 10, 2008

art therapy

On Tuesday tree and I wandered around museums in the city enjoying the fact it is intersession and not the normal school year. We deserve, we believe, to pretend we are still on break and go out on school nights.
So we did.
We came across an exhibit of an artist's work that varied between calm tranquil water fowl and murderous watchful eyes with blood-like streaks across the canvas. One painting looked almost sweet from a distance with its colorful watermelon field. Yet on closer examination the watermelons had been brutally slain as their blood (not juice, blood) poured out onto the watermelon patch. "Ugh" I pointed out to tree, "Its a good thing he has art as an outlet or he may have become a serial killer".

As we finished the exhibit we came to the last piece, a three panel floor to ceiling piece in a Jackson Pollock type fashion. When reading the plaque beside the piece, we read something close to "this piece was like an exodus for my pathological emotions. If not for this I may have become an ax-murder"

And that is why we should teach art in schools.

*As far as my diagnostic skills on cats and now random artists, I'd like to add that my in-laws called to have me diagnose their cat with an eating disorder. I now believe he's bulimic since he eats items which cause himself to throw up. I am starting to think I should open some sort of business.

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