Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2002 14:54:24 EST
Subject: PUPT: destroying art


from what I understand, in my research, my clients & the friends who do 
participate in destroying their work, that the act is cathartic & working out 
unresolved issues.  One of my clients created a creature & it got slightly 
burned in the oven.  She decided she didn't want it (even though I said she 
could paint over it)- so we had funeral rights and said a little prayer & 
buried it in the garbage can, wrapped up in cloth.  Considering her issues 
with trauma and death, even though we giggled - we bonded & I think it was a 
powerful experience for her.  She loved process & only rarely was focused on 
the final product.  But our art therapy experiences were valued & were not in 
vain.  On the flip side, I have had clients who are so focused on the 
product, rather than process, that they were terrified of experimentation & 
thus while sometimes the work was technically proficiant (for their ages), it 
wasn't terribly expressive & a bit flat.

I have discussed this with other puppeteers & doll artist & what was agreed 
is that you need both to end up with powerful work that breathes life.
A very interesting take on the eros and thanatos in the art process is 
Charles de Lint's modern urban fantasy- Memory & Dream.

Wayong


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