During one very cold winter day, I was walking home, breathing heavily in my hands that cupped the warm air around my face. The ice-cold wind passed my ears, and I could not wait to be in my warm bed next to the heater. Ignoring the cold, I focused on getting home to get some hot tea before going to bed, but as I approached my doorstep, a homeless man began laying out his sleeping bag to sleep adjacent to my door. This is not the first time this man has slept there, and it is not the first time I have seen him.
Sometimes it is fear that hinders the offering of help. Sometimes time does not allow it, and other times, there is a lack of resources. It is easier to do nothing, and turn the eyes away. After awhile, the pinch of sympathy is forgotten, and life carries on as normal. It is this hint of compassion, however, that tests the softness of our hearts. The act of ignoring signs of helplessness is a slow disintegration of compassion within humanity.
Not to throw away all logic and reasoning, wisdom and caution is carefully taken in account. On the other hand, calculations and rationality should not stop the creativity of finding another way to help someone without risking oneself. Realizing that the world will never be perfected, and poverty may never disappear, there must be an understanding that the goal is not to solve the world’s greatest problem. The goal is to stop ignoring it and to creatively find simple ways to show compassion.
Artist Proposal:
In the city of London as of 2011, there are 3,460 households accepted as homeless, and 520 households found to be ‘intentionally homeless’.[1] The following statistics are results of a survey conducted in 2010 by St Mungo’s:[2]
- 76% of clients were male
- 24% of clients were female
- 39% of clients were from BME communities
- 64% of clients had issues with substance use (drugs and/or alcohol)
- 64% had a physical health condition (medical condition, vision or hearing impaired and/or required regular medication)
- 70% of clients had mental health issues (diagnosed, suspected, depression and/or self harming)
- 54% of clients had educational needs (learning disabilities, difficulty reading, difficulty with numeracy, managing money and paying bills)
- 8% had been in care
- 48% of clients were ex-offenders or had been in prison
This art piece does not require a brush in hand; it requires a heart in motion. It is easier to ignore the helpless while continuing our lives, but some information needs to be brought to light and in the faces of the people living in the same area. As people walk past a panhandler, they either stop to acknowledge or look straight on ignoring his presence as if the panhandler is part of the landscape. He is used to being ignored and forgotten.
In front of the church on Gloucester Road, with his dog, he sits greeting those who walk by. My friends and I will sit and have a picnic dinner with him on the street in his environment. We all will sit down at the same level, share the same food, and talk to share stories. This is to acknowledge his presence, and to get to know him as a person. For those who walk by, they can see this uncommon communion. The issue of homelessness and an alternative way to interact with a homeless person is presented, putting it in view so that it may not be ignored.
The second part of this piece is a dialogue art, the interaction between all of us. Like WochenKlausur’s boat conversation in Zurich, the artist’s medium is the people he brought together to have a conversation. There were politicians, journalists, and drug dealers who came on to this boat off on the Lake of Zurich. The art was the conversation. In the same way, this art is in the conversation and the stories that are shared.
This piece was actually executed. It was a pleasure to deliver a nice steak dinner followed by a dessert to a man name Limmerick and his dog, Molly. He received it kindly, and openly shared his story when we asked him. He told us he was from Ireland. He was once married. Unfortunately, she was unfaithful to him, and his dispute with her lover landed him in jail for a number of years. He then came to London about 15 years ago and he has been living on the streets for nearly 13 years. He admitted that he was an alcoholic, but he also said his drinkingness helps him forget his hunger. It is an unfortunate catch 22, and the worst part is he believes this to be his only option. There is no other solution than the life he is living now.
I asked him about shelters or help. He said that there are shelters but most of the time shelters do not allow pets. Molly had been his companion for nearly a decade, and he was not going to let her go. Even in his most desperate time, he was not going to abandon his most faithful friend. This is the compassion that distinguishes man from robots, and this is the compassion that this piece is looking for. This project is simple. It does not require much cost or set up time. It is not meant to find a solution to poverty. This project is to highlight homeless people from an urban environment, to see them not a part of the landscape but as human beings.
Disclaimer:
I admit there are more focuses on the benefits of the artist and the audience through this experience. The emphasis is introspective rather than extrospective dispite the fact that the topic is about a charitable motion. Repeatedly I state that this project is not about ending world hunger and poverty with one action, it is to stop the act of ignoring it and to soften the calluses. The other fact I must admit is that I feel uneasy about putting this on a blog as if to show off a noble deed. This was not my intention, and I prefer to receive no sympathetic complements. I did not photography this experience or film it for the same reason. The project is just in that moment. The only reason this made it as a post is because I do want to share this as an artistic concepts and to inspire similar actions.
Work Cited.
“Homelessness statistics.” St Mungo’s. 2012. Accessed 28 March 2012. http://www.mungos.org/homelessness/facts/homelessness_statistics.
“Shelter Housing Data Bank.” Shelter. 2012. Accessed 28 March 2012, http://england.shelter.org.uk/professional_resources/housing_databank/results?area_selection=H&data_selection=A1%2CA3%2CB2%2CB1%2CB4%2CB6&selected_min=2006&selected_max=2011.
[1] “Shelter Housing Data Bank,” Shelter, 2012, accessed 28 March 2012, http://england.shelter.org.uk/professional_resources/housing_databank/results?area_selection=H&data_selection=A1%2CA3%2CB2%2CB1%2CB4%2CB6&selected_min=2006&selected_max=2011.
[2] “Homelessness statistics” St Mungo’s 2012, accessed 28 March 2012, http://www.mungos.org/homelessness/facts/homelessness_statistics.