Anxiety of Man and Art

Often in life certain circumstances and turns of events will rock the stability and the concreteness that has become familiar. A person may begin to question, to doubt, to fear and to rebel. It may realized that the world is not in good health, but broken. This realization is met again when a man looks at his own self. He ponders his own brokenness and thus experiences anxiety, an anxiety that is a result of his inner conflict. Since the Renaissance, man has shifted his focus from the moral, religious, philosophical to the material realities and objective knowledge of science; no longer is feeling, value, truth and justice at the forefront of our minds. It has been replaced with economics, politics, technology and science of the world. People still wonder about love, feel torn because we are spiritually thirsty, we still fear death, and are curious of evil. Most of all we question our existence and our purpose, which leads us to the mystery of God. Our minds and souls are torn and stretched because of the tension that exists. Society no longer believes in an absolute right or wrong or even in God, while our heart whispers of truth and faith. It is of this dramatic struggle that is expressed in art and poetry, for no science can explain the anxiety of mind and soul and the ailments they suffer from.

Morris Kantor successfully illustrates ideas about science and his own struggles with life in his work Untitled. The parallel lines in the portrait of his mother are a visual representation of Einstein’s theories of space-time. Kantor does a very good job of “merging” the background and foreground with his mother’s body, while emphasizing his mother’s almost decaying face. Obviously the poor relationship he had with his mother is expressed in the drab colors and dark properties of the piece. In Sandy, a piece by American Walter Kuhn, the unhappy appearance of the clown shows the result of “putting on a mask”. The artist captures the clown distressed look on his face so successfully that the feeling of tension is passed on to the viewer. That expression is a good example demonstrating the idea that people will put on a mask of joy for shows, but on the inside and behind stage they aren’t doing well. Both of these pictures capture hidden meanings underneath the paint and a representation of inner conflicts; they portray dark and upsetting visual elements that show the artist’s own distress and remind us of our own.

A show that’s purpose is to address the internal conflicts we face as a result of the modern views of values, the movement toward logic and away from the metaphysical and the differing opinions of our heart and mind would best be displayed in the observatory on campus. It’s a place that would remind us of science and God, especially at night when you can see the stars. The time in history when scholars like Galileo began to look to the sky to understand the world is also the time when science and logic began to replace faith and religion. That location would serve to additionally to humble the viewers. The vastness and magnitude of the universe puts our own struggles into perspective; it also is a reminder that no matter what struggles we face, we can always turn to our Creator for guidance.

Life Is Like A Library

I was sitting in the library at school the other day and a realization came to me. Our lives are similar to a library. A library is full of books, and each book is a part of our lives, that we've stored on the shelves. We're our own librarians, checking in and out the memories we have. We get new books often, adding it to our ever growing collections of memories. So books are old and tattered, worn and well-used. Those are our favorites, the ones our mothers would read to us after school, before supper and again at bed time. Some are dusty, forgotten until we reorganized and realize we've had this great book all this time, suddenly aware we had this book. Then there are those that are neglected. Some are left on the floors, in corners, or on the top shelves. We might pick one and and read the back cover, but not care enough to put it back. Those books wish they were read more often, but the more popular books are always being checked out. And everyone knows there is a limit to the number of books you can check out at a time. Then there are the books we don't want to display. The ones we box up and toss into storage are the ones we despise. We don't want to read those books again. The emotions they stir up are ones we've long locked away. But we can't get rid of them. Their vital, because they are the books that have a deep hold on our lives. Those are the books buried under the boxes and papers, in our subconscious. But out one display, are the books that really matter. Its the new hardcover on display that is the showcase of the library. It signifying a turning point in the libraries collection. New shelves are put up for the new books that will be written because of that one, the catalyst necessary for a much needed change. It's started the dusting, the re-cataloging, the new drapes and the new checkout system. All because of one book, a book with two authors, and a book that has begun a series that will continue indefinitely.

Primrose Path

To be "led down the primrose path" is a common idiom suggesting that one is being deceived or led astray, often by a hypocrite.

This phrase was coined by Shakespeare, in Hamlet, 1603. It is evidently a simple allusion to a path strewn with flowers.

Ophelia:
I shall the effect of this good lesson keep,
As watchman to my heart. But, good my brother,
Do not, as some ungracious pastors do,
Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven;
Whiles, like a puff'd and reckless libertine,
Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads,
And recks not his own rede.

Ophelia is warning her brother take his own advice and not reject the difficult and arduous path of righteousness that leads to Heaven in favour of the easy path of sin.

Shakespeare later used 'the primrose way', which has the same meaning, in Macbeth. The Porter speaks of "the primrose way to th'everlasting bonfire" This variant is hardly ever used now.