Tibetan Sand Art and an art critic gone wild

Mo. Toddler Ruins Monks' Sand Design, per FoxNews:

The little boy spotted the pretty pile of colored sand on the floor of the vast hall and couldn't resist. Slipping under a protective rope, he danced all over the sand, ruining the carefully crafted picture.

From the Daily Mail,

Sitting cross legged for two days a group of Tibetan monks carefully created an intricate sand design as an expression of their Buddhist faith.

However, an intervention, not of the divine variety, saw their efforts go to waste when a little boy who toddled into Kansas City's train station behind his mother spotted the display of coloured sand on the floor and could not resist.

I think they've got it all wrong... there was no ruining of efforts nor did any efforts go to waste. Rather, this event was merely an opportunity to express WARTS - to Wonder about ART Syndrome. Watching a news report video of the incident, one notices that, prior to the incident there was a minimal barrier around the sand design along with signs stating, "DO NOT CROSS THE LINE. THANK YOU!".

After the incident, additional barriers were placed around the design.

But such a response is all wrong (according to WARTS). Rather than react to the toddler's actions with measures to prevent it from recurring, the true intricacies of the toddler's actions should be analyzed and, indeed, embraced.

In the world of the ARTS, and especially regarding the WARTS variety, boundaries are crossed (sometimes violently), new frontiers are explored and invaded. Is it so difficult to envisage the profoundness of a mere child, crossing the minimal barrier placed in front of him, ignoring the written word - most likely not even understanding the written word - which kept the older, stronger, and supposedly wiser adults at bay? And, rather than join in the tedious efforts of the monks he, instead, chooses to destroy the work or - perhaps even more complex - he chooses to forcibly impose his unorthodox, avant-garde style of sand design; this, after declaring himself free from the bonds of barriers and the written word. The image above is, no doubt, an expression of the toddler's deepest emotions. In it, we hear him screaming, "I AM FREE FROM MY BONDS! YOUR SIMPLE BARRIERS CANNOT KEEP ME FROM EXPRESSING MY FREEDOM! WHAT IS COLORED SAND, IF NOTHING BUT TO BE TRAMPLED ON UNDERFOOT?"

Indeed, we would do well to ponder long and hard on the chaotic rendition this young prodigy has graciously bestowed upon us.

Or... it could've just been the actions of a little brat.

Comments

[ilona]

way too harsh- although the theory is improvement on the complicated and projected pontifications of the artsy-fartsy ( oops- are Christian women allowed to say that?) Anyway, it is the everyday story of a child getting loose from mom and finding joy in dancing in those pretty colors. I bet his after reaction was ..."uh-oh".

Think so?

[Rusty]

Too harsh? Huh? I thought I was embracing art for art's sake. I thought I was listening to the artist. I thought I was delving into the inner reaches of the human psyche, seeing how it relates not only to other human psyches, but to the very paradigms we live by.

Come to think of it, though, maybe Occam's Razor would lead us to your conclusion of the all too common occurrence of a child getting loose from mom. Of course, pondering the implications of that notion has possibilities as well...

[Brian]

You guys are too funny...

Imagine the implications had the toddler decided to pee on the sand.

[greg]

Just be thankful it wasn't a cat that got in there. We all know what they like to do in sand.

[ilona]

Now, greg...that was funny! And Brian got you going, didn't he?