Jackson's Actions

All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsion, habit, reason, passion, and desire. --Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC) <

Weeks tumble by and I haven't written or painted anything in weeks. I am not really blocked (I don't think). I am just 'out of the mood.' Does that ever happen to you? Well, that's too facile. Let me think. A LOT has been going on.

1. I had a birthday. Ack. Yuck. Save me. These just roll around without my permission.

2. But on that birthday, some friends and I drove to Charlotte to see the "Body Worlds" exhibit -- which is bizarre! Fascinating~! And very educational. Here's
Wikipedia's description (I don't even want to try!) But one could not help thinking about Nazi Germany's experiments in WWII, in spite of the amazing and artful presentations. It is a very provocative and apparently controversial traveling event.

Body Worlds (German title: Körperwelten) is a traveling exhibition of preserved human bodies and body parts that are prepared using a technique called plastination to reveal inner anatomical structures. The exhibition's developer and promoter is a German anatomist named Gunther von Hagens, who invented the plastination technique in the late 1970s. The exhibition, first presented in Tokyo in 1995, has been shown in many cities in Europe and Asia. A second exhibition, along similar lines but with different exhibits, called Body Worlds 2 opened in 2005. A third exhibition, Body Worlds 3, opened on February 25, 2006, at The Houston Museum of Natural Science. More than 20 million people have seen one of the Body Worlds exhibits, which together have taken in $200 million [1].

The exhibit states that its purpose and mission is the education of laymen about the human body, leading to better health awareness. All of the human plastinates are willing donors[2]. The original Body Worlds exhibit consisted of about 25 full body plastinates with expanded or selective organs shown in positions that enhanced the role of certain systems. Cased in glass amid the upright bodies are more than 200 specimens showing an array of real human bodies, organs, and organ systems, some having various medical conditions. For example, there are bodies with prosthetics such as artificial hip joints or heart valves; a liver with cirrhosis; and the lungs of a smoker and non-smoker placed side by side.

A curtained-off prenatal wing features a pregnant woman who died eight months into pregnancy; her unborn fetus died shortly thereafter. She is shown reclining and a large flap exposes her insides, with the nearly fully formed baby pushing aside her internal organs fully visible. This section also usually contains unborn fetuses and embryos, some with congenital disorders.

The last exhibit hall features a rearing horse and rider. All exhibits are accompanied with detailed descriptions, and audio guides are available with the option of beginner or advanced, for laymen or medical professionals respectively.

3. I have sought the help of two poetry mentors: Esther Morgan, author of one of my favorite books: "The Silence Living in Houses," who is a UK poet and Cathy Smith Bowers, a well known Southern poet who teaches at Queens in Charlotte. She is the author of three wonderful books, "A Book of Minutes," "Traveling in Time of Danger," and "The Love that Ended Yesterday in Texas." I am a crazy woman waiting for the notes on my work. Thus, I'm rendered paralyzed from doing anything new!

4. The wonderful novelist, Maryanne Stahl, "Forgive the Moon" and "The Opposite Shore," found her way to Asheville at last! (to meet her daughter, son in law and new grandson) and spent one night at my house. We had dinner downtown, stopped at Malaprop's and sat up until wee hours gabbing and catching up on a 9-year online friendship. It was the first time we ever met in person! Much, much fun!


Maryanne & Bev at The Laughing Seed

5. My friend, Pat Riviere-Seel, another fine Southern poet,author of "No Turning Back Now," accompanied me to Greenville, S.C. where we lunched and saw the Andrew Wyeth and Jasper Johns exhibits at the Greenville Museum. Excellent, and we enjoyed some of the other installations as well. One of the museum guards pointed out to us the shape of a donkey in the two abstract paintings of Johns' named "The Dutch Wives." We had already commented on an odd red circle on the right side of both paintings, and when you squinted, made out the donkey, you could see that he possibly indicated with a bullseye WHERE to pin the tail. More fun! Can you spot it on the right?


Dutch Wives by Jasper Johns

6. And last, but certainly not least, I am still at my own makeover -- I have gym and yoga regimens (many months now) and started on the nutrition regimen, eliminating white sugar and flour and focusing on whole wheat and natural foods. It's the sort of lifestyle I have resisted for many eons, but in fact makes me feel better and hopefully will prolong my life. (You reach a certain point and every added year makes a big difference! Things are just getting good.)

Hope your summer is going well and your work is flowing, unlike mine!

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