Homeless in Vancouver: What doesn't disappear eventually becomes art

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      As a culture we work hard to create artistic masterpieces to adorn our best of all possible worlds.

      Too hard actually. If we just sat on out hands we would see that the creation of “timeless” works of art is an inevitable function of time.

      This natural phenomenon is closely associated to time’s well-known ability to heal all wounds.

      Turns out art just happens, nothing we can do about it

      Hence, the famous BowMac sign on West Broadway.

      The so-called ToyMac sign is now deemed an artistic treasure worth preserving not because it’s beautiful—it’s actually quite ugly—but because it ended up outliving all the other better signs of its era.

      But time, by its very nature, takes too long to get things done—we are an impatient race. We want what we want in our lifetimes, if you please.

      Unless we’re gainfully employed like farmers, we will continue to paint and sculpt and write in our free time because…well, that’s really why we do it mostly…to use up our free time.

      And I hear some of you ask, “If we didn’t have painting and dance and sculpture and macramé and literature, what would we do with all our free time?”

      What do you think social media was invented for? That and to make a sh*tload of money.

      Only steal from the best

      The word plagiarism, you may be interested to know, comes from the Latin plagiarius for kidnap.

      Coincidently, if you value your Western philosophy and ever want to see Friedrich Nietzsche’s “That which does not kill us, makes us stronger” returned in one sentence, leave a really big bag of beer cans behind the dumpsters of the West Broadway Staples on the evening of the next full moon (Thursday, June 12).

      Not pop cans or American beer cans but genuine Canadian—coin of the realm—beer cans.

      Stanley Q. Woodvine is a homeless resident of Vancouver who has worked in the past as an illustrator, graphic designer, and writer.

      Comments

      3 Comments

      well

      Jun 9, 2014 at 12:51am

      always enjoy your thoughts. time makes good art. that's why the beach is a collector's paradise.

      blah

      Jun 9, 2014 at 7:19am

      Just proof that most art is useless junk. Some is cool and relevant, but most is useless.

      Stanley Q Woodvine

      Jun 9, 2014 at 11:37am

      @ blah

      Your comment works almost as well if you substitute "art" with "fill in the blank."