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July 31, 2005
Thoughts About Shopping Carts
The shopping cart has reappeared several times in my recent artwork. I have taken several photos as well as used a screen print of a cart in some of my paintings. I wanted to tell you the story behind my use of shopping carts, and share with you some of my thoughts about my shopping cart theme.
The idea of the shopping cart evolved from conversations with my friend Paul who used to be a police officer. He told me a story of a homeless woman who carried all her possessions in a shopping cart. The detective work concluded that she was pushing her cart along the sidewalk at the top of a steep embankment. It was thought that she saw a spoon or eating utinsel off to the side. As she reached for it, her cart started to roll off the edge. Rather than lose all her possessions, she refused to let go, and fell to her death. They found her body at the bottom of a steep embankment face down in the shallow creek.
Paul told me this story in combination with a story of a rich man who the police found dead surrounded by neatly stacked piles of money. A person vastly more wealthy than the homeless woman met the same fate when he committed suicide. He refused to let go of his possessions, and he fell to his death.
While riding my bike around a lake, I stopped to take a break at the top of a steep embankment. As I looked down at the water's edge, I saw a shopping cart submerged in the water. Paul's story immediately to mind. I took the picture above, and wrote the peom at the bottom of the page.
We all have varying degrees of wealth. Are you more like the homeless woman, or the rich man? When you are standing on the edge of losing all you own, will you be able to let go, or will you go down with it? If you have everything you could dream of, will it be enough, or will your wealth destroy you?
The Steep Embankment
Two passersby
approaching journey's end
Glanced down a steep embankment.
Her earthly possessions,
Plastic bag collections,
Filled her shopping basket.
A flash of silver,
An eating utensil,
Lay just beyond the pavement.
Final gasp of panic,
Polished brass titanic,
Plunged down the steep embankment.
His earthly possessions,
Paper coin collections,
Fit snugly in his wallet.
A flash of silver,
A quarter dollar,
lay just beyond the pavement.
Final gasp of panic,
Polished brass titanic,
Plunged down the steep embankment.
As you pass by,
approach your journey's end,
Glance down the steep embankment.
Posted by Adrian at July 31, 2005 6:59 PM