I walk up my flight of stairs on my way to my apartment only to pause on the second landing. My mouth drops and my eyes widen. On the floor is beauty, amazement, glorious art. Someone, in sidewalk chalk, has drawn The Creation of Man. Rendered in simplistic beauty, God reaches down to touch his beloved creation, Adam. Strangely, above these two historical and spiritual figures Yoshi stands staring at the wall. How could someone make such beauty with simple chalk! Chalk! Chalk is what toddlers and preschoolers use to pass the time. It’s not something used with shading and color contrast. The artist somehow makes simple chalk into some almost inhuman. No mere mortal could have created this. Hercules himself could have done no better. Chalk is what student council does when they’re bored and have a dance to advertise for. Never have I seen it put to such use. It wouldn’t surprise me if that slab of concrete was hefted off to the Museum of Art. It would feel quite at home there. And what about the artist? Why did he do this and how did he decide he would be one of the few artists who specialized in sidewalk chalk? My mind cant wrap around it; I am unable to comprehend. How many boxes of chalk have his parents gone through? How many times did his dad spray down the sidewalk only to blur and mix the myriad of colors together briefly creating a technicolored river one minute and a slush of brown the next.
Chalk comes from the earth. It is a soft sediment that is resistant to erosion. Street chalk has color added to it. Something so rudimentary can become something so exquisitely beautiful it is mind boggling. In fact, sidewalk chalk is nothing more than glorified chalkboard chalk. Strange, I know. Never in my entire public school education did my teacher ever make something fantastic on the board to stare at. Never was I once enthralled by the beauty that Mr. Baker, or Mrs. Nemrow displayed during their lessons. I find this odd. Who is spending all their time with chalk? Who actually needs it? Wouldn’t it seem that those with the most experience with chalk be those who are most skilled with it? Why are they getting shown up by some freshman at Wyview who probably only does this to pass the time on sunny weather?
Chalk comes from the ground as a rough material. Most times, it is used in a rough manner; it never reaches a pinnacle of beauty or elegance. But every now and then, chalk gets to live up to its potential. I makes beauty out of nothing. It makes onlookers pause to admire and to dream of the other possibilities. What could have happened if I had continued to play with chalk as a child and not grown out of it? Probably nothing special; I am not the artistic type. But this artist stuck with his art and made something beautiful with his skill and asked nothing in return.
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I love the way you ask all the questions in your piece. It is like taking a walk through your though process with you. My friend actually knows who did that picture. The guy got some chalk for his birthday and the person who gave it to the artist said that the artist had to pay him back somehow, it didn't matter what it was. So there lies the scene from Sistine Chapel.
ReplyDeleteMan the first paragraph was awesome. I love your reaction to the art. You have a great thing going there. It was great to hear you talk about how the art evoked emotion from you, and how it was accentuated by your amazement that it was possible in that medium.
ReplyDeleteI want to hear more about the reaction to the art, more analysis of it and less about the mundane subject of chalk. Yoshi and The Creation of Man? There has to be some interesting interpretation there. You could have juxtaposed the chalk and the art a little more and made it more obvious that it was even cooler because it was made out of chalk. Still a good job.