Sunday, January 2, 2011

Beat Yourself

I was at MOCA today and one of the artists created five piñatas in her likeness, with one of them on display. While I knew nothing about this artist, this seemed to speak volumes as to how she perceived herself. This sparked two immediate thoughts:

First, why would you want someone to beat you [or the likeness of you] with a stick? Do you have such an intense self-loathing that you feel compelled to have people swing at you to break you apart (in the metaphorical sense)?

Second, if you made a piñata to look like you, what would you fill it with? I don't think I would fill mine with candy. While candy is enjoyable to some, there is no real value in it; it's just sugar. To me, candy equals pleasure--which is a good thing--yet it's coupled with emptiness and no real, sustaining qualities.

Who knows what I would put in my piñata? I can't say that it would be filled with all of the same thing. I actually think my piñata would be filled with a mixture of things--some sweet, some odd, some unexpected. Then again, I wouldn't want people to beat me with sticks to get to what's inside of me.

This probably defeats the purpose, but I think that I would just give away what was inside of me to whoever was willing to work hard enough for it (no sticks necessary)--on the simple condition that this person or people would share with me what's inside of them.

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