Mortality

Several artists through history have used the bones of the deceased as subject matter for artwork. Sometimes they slip the little skull or skeleton into the artwork surreptitiously, while at other times it is right out in the open perhaps even the focus of the piece. However the bones are used, they are familiar to us and remind us of our own mortality.

The bones' shapes and smooth curves seem somehow appealing to us. The way in which they fit together like a gigantic jigsaw puzzle entices our imagination. We haven't always gotten it correct however, case in point, the first 'dinosaur' skeleton on exhibit. Sometimes all we need in a skull to cause us to spout (for the correct version) "Alas, poor Yorick, I knew him, Horatio."

The skull, is the seat of our intelligence, the carrying case of our mind, the focus of our attention in really getting to know someone. The skull holds our eyes and mouth and ears and is the epicenter of our thought. It is supposed to be hard and tough to protect our sensitive brain but there is only so much a skull can do. Attached to the skull in the spine. Given only a skull and a spine one might think of a snake or given only a spine, of a worm.

The ribcage and scapulas with a skull take us to pirate treasure islands and the remains of some greedy treasure hunter fallen under an unfortunate accident. Or a buzzard picked wandered lost in the desert. What's left of the skeleton that can perhaps stand by itself? A hand? A foot? The pelvis? A skeleton in full reminds me of Science lab or Halloween. Even outside of the human skeleton, animal skeletons and bones appear in artwork and fire the brain into high gear. Westerns have used the skull (minus the mandible) of a horse or cow for decades.

So for this exercise I challenge you to find some skeleton or bone to create some artwork with. There are plenty of pictures on the internet to full the creative fire. Some time back I found a picture of a (I think) a saber tooth tiger skull. I have used it to create a little bit of wallpaper for my desktop.

This is not my only foray into the realm of the dead however. No, I've not personally visited Hades, I have found a long time ago a beaver skull that had been cleaned expertly by bacteria I imagine. A perfect beaver skull minus the mandible sits inside a drawer near my computer to remind me of both walking through the woods behind my parents house and that nothing lasts forever.

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