Choices
What David Hockney Does for Us, Part I (1 min read)
Paris, August / September
I took a long break when everyone went back to the office.
Summer lingered, people buzzing, chatting at bars.
A soft haze still hung in the air.
My only plan was to see David Hockney’s exhibition.
The largest I’ve ever seen.
Maybe more will come, maybe the last.
He creates, nonstop (Amen).
It was the last week of the show, rather busy for my liking.
But feeling his art so close was priceless,
giving me time to drill into my own thoughts.
The pinnacle of the exhibition came from unexpected places, as usual.
I overheard a conversation between a curator and a family.
A boy, around eight, pointing at a painting:
“Is that Ed Sheeran?”
Innocent, harmless—or so it seemed.
“Yes,” the curator replied.
“Why?” Killer, yet brilliant, why question.
“Ah… because he (Hockney) wanted to paint (Ed)?”
Puzzled, the curator hesitated.
The boy’s eyes lit up:
“Can he paint what he wants to paint?!”
This innocent yet profound question made me think:
Why do I do what I do?
Certainly not to be told what I should or shouldn’t create.
Rules exist until we break them to make new ones.
Why do you do what you do?
To be continued…
