Eighty Six: A drawing from the past

Eight-Six took several years to acquire a name.  It sat in my collection of drawings for years. It was never placed on exhibition.  When I spent time looking at it, this drawing felt as if it were miles away from where I am now.  In contrast to what I had created in graduate school, this really felt like a glance backward.  The figure had been absent from my work for sometime.  When I returned to it, there would be a decidedly "surrealistic" element to my creations.

Eighty Six, a prisma color drawing

Of all of the work I had ever created, I had a series of drawings that I had created that felt that they were really more for me than for patrons or the public, this one felt intensely private and somewhat cryptic .  Only in retrospect did I come to understand that for several years I was creating some art for myself without the intention of ever placing them on exhibition.

Usually when I create work, I have some thought that it would be work placed on display of some kind.  Why I created work only for me is something of a mystery.  During the time I was working on my "underground" collection, I was exhibiting work.  There were several figurative works completed during this period that found their way to exhibitions.  Several found homes with new owners.  But the works like this were never brought out to public view.  I think only I ever saw them.

I was not sure about placing this work on the internet, but I also thought why not?

There will be more from this unseen collection placed online soon.

Check out my web site for more information, www.behrmannart.com

The Selling of Jodi Arias: Turning Tragedy to Cash

The name Jodi Arias is officially a household name.  In a case that has become a center piece for the media, the public could not get enough of the sordid story of obsession, passion and death.   News services were conveniently on hand to satiate a public mesmerized by the brutal death of Travis Alexander.  The court room was filled to capacity. Apparently there was more than one person who did not want to miss history in the making.

                Andy Warhol’s famous quote “In the future everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes” is more than a shrewd observation. It is more descriptive of the present than the past. Celebrity comes not from achievement, but notoriety.  If you can keep the spotlight on you, anticipate a bizarre kind of stardom. 

People who captivate the imagination of the public, either good or bad, will get name recognition. There is no bad or good publicity.  There is just publicity.

Making yourself a household name is the name of the game.

                Before the trial was over, The Lifetime Channel was in production with a T.V. movie based on what is now the most talked about trial since O.J.

                The sensational trial has given inspiration to an equally titillating  title  “Dirty Little  Secret: The Jodi Arias Trial.”

                If there is a demand for something, anything, consider that someone will feed that hunger.  The seemingly bottomless pit of almost voyeuristic consumption has not been lost on those who see no problem with merchandising the tragic.

                One Saint Louis woman has made commemorative jewelry so that Travis Alexander’s life is not forgotten.  For a mere $ 28.50 is all it takes to have a trinket that brings to mind a gisly murder.  Sympathetic to the loss of Travis’ family a small percentage of the sale of these pieces of jewelry to go to the family. 

Slight monetary compensation is a weak form of solace to a family that lost a son.  The logic put forth here by the jewelry designer from Saint Louis is that is acceptable to profit from someone else’s misery. As long as you “give back” you are not a hustler taking advantage of a death to line your own pocket.  

A few coins is better than none at all.  So justify your actions until the proverbial cows come home.        

                But the lure of lucre has not stopped the merchandisers from pounce on an opportunity.   T shirts can be purchased. Any memento connected with the infamous trial will do well in the market place.

                As long as it makes money, there is no bad taste. There are only poor sales.

                Bumper stickers and buttons can be had as well if jewelry is not your “thing.” 

                What is intriguing about the desire to somehow connect to the event is how intense the involvement has been.  People became so gripped by the trial they could not pull themselves away from the detailed coverage.

                The emotional pitch of the audience waiting outside the court room waiting for the verdict. almost had a mob mentality.  Everyone felt personally touched by the event as if they were vicariously living through the proceedings.  I supposed some of that is to be expected.  This trial has everything to make a compelling story.

                Kinky sex, an attractive looking suspect, everything about the murder draws you into it like an octopus.  The shock value is an attraction. Waiting for the jury’s decision was surrounded by anticipation. Just what would they do?  How was this going to end?

                The anger and the desire to see justice served attracted a huge crowd.  All were relieved, happy almost jubilant that Arias was found guilty. Everyone on camera seemed happy. No relieved, sad or depressed faces here. The crowed looked happy is if a everyone had won the  lottery.  

                There was, and is, no doubt Arias committed this heinous act.    Her guilt is unquestionable.  The next phase will the suites and possible trials to come. We all have to wait to see how this transpires.

                This trial is not over. It has just begun.  

It may even be that Arias could potentially marketing herself via drawings and twitters.  No doubt anything coming from Arias’ hands will draw attention. It will attract money. It has been circling for a while that Arias could earn a few coins if her art work were sold.  Someone somewhere will see value here.

For the news media, the trial was a ratings pay day.  Nearly everyone was captivated.  There was something to report that had a salacious tag line

Sex sells.  It even sells murder, revenge, death and violence. The murder was the perfect storm for news crews who need the “big story.”

Crying tears of joy, the undercurrent around the courthouse was that justice was served. But the mix of a guilty verdict surrounded by happiness had an incongruence that was out of place.  Everyone wants justice to be served. Clearly Arias is not able to return to society, and she is a threat. 

                In a case where there are enough tears to shed on every front, the case had more to be depressed about than happy. 

Justice must be served.

However, it just felt like an updated of the lynching’s of old less civilized times.  If there had been a dark castle and Herr Doktor Frankenstein’s monster around, you could almost envision torch carrying locals demanding justice.

  Absent was any of and despair, loss or sadness. No matter how the case came out, the past could not be obliterated.  Guilty or innocent, a man is dead under what must have been a painful death. There is no reason for happiness. Should Arias face execution, it is not an event that causes cheers.

There is a death, family grieving and a mountain of pain to go around. An exhausted jury, two families sorting out the sordid mess, there is nothing but sorrow here no matter how you feel about any of this.

Life brutally extinguished is always tragic.  At the very least it deserves some dignity. Considering the circumstances, taking the higher ground would be the better path. One way that can be accomplished is by not turning the court room into a three ring circus designed to entertain. This desensitizes a public already jaded from films, video games and music that glorifies violence. Violence is entertainment and death an incidental consequence.

Back in very old times, a sacrificial cow was used to cleanse the community.  Guilt, anger and frustration were grafted onto the sacrifice as a means to vent emotion.  It seems as if Jodi Arias was despised as much for her crime as being a person to place blame and hate. She became a cathartic way to express anger, frustration and fear.

In times like these there are plenty of things to fear. 

Jodi Arias, or Jodi as she was often referred, could be an instant object of female vengeance controlled.  The idea of woman as temptress, manipulator and she devil is as old as the hills. It is an archetype of the female image that sees all women as something to fear.  Just probe beneath the surface and any woman can be turned into a vile, lethal weapon.

Jodi Arias could easily be a character from a Greek play. The jealous femme fetal whose touch is desired, but her passions too bold.  Executing women, or men, for that matter for crimes is nothing new. But the notion that a woman out of control could happen at any moment is here.

If we can subdue a Jodi Areas we are all safe.  That could very well be true. However, there maybe little reason to happy about the outcome. There are only tears and sadness here.

                Executing a woman is both feared, and yet oddly, a spectacle worth viewing.

                It is just part of the human condition to turn around to see a car wreck.  Something about an accident pulls you in to watch.  Curiosity or a desire to see blood, crimes are much the same as any car accident. 

We want entertainment.  We want justice. We want fair trials, we also want bread and circuses.  We are not that different from the Romans after all.

                Ruminations will run rampant.  Is Arias a victim of abuse? Is she deeply disturbed? Is she just a cold blooded killer? Is  she a woman out of control,?  Is she a woman defending herself? Could she be all of these things?  Or is she just a vengeful woman .  Could she be criminally insane? Could she be a manipulator who took joy in her crimes? Only a good psychiatrist would know where to find the answers.

                What is known is that she committed a grisly crime. She was vengeful, bloody and ruthless with her anger.

                The Arias trial raises as many questions as it answers.  Did anyone see the signs that Arias had, at the least, “anger management issues?  Did anyone see her previous outbreaks  as a prelude to disaster?

                What part, if any, did friends, family, expectations and frustrations work to fuel this very physical attack where a man’s head was literally ripped from his body. 

                Was this preventable? Or was this just a fluke? Was it a onetime situation, or will there be more to follow if Arias finds her way back to society?

                One things is certain. Arias has to be removed from the public. She has shown she is dangerous. Now it is up to a Jury and a Judge to figure out what to do next.

                As we wait to see this all come to a conclusion, there will be those who profit from this crime one way or the other.  When crime becomes a cash cow, anticipate that someone will figure out a way to milk this for all it is worth.

                What is next regarding Arias memorabilia?  Will her drawings be shown?  Could her image become a shirt, a candle holder, maybe a protective cell phone case?  Will the Arias bed collection start showing up at Bed, Bath and Beyond?   Will a marketing genius create the Jodi Arias Shower Curtain?  Could this crime become more vulgar than it already is?

                We will have to wait and see. Tune in for the next exciting episode of Woman Gone Wild.  If this turns into a video game, don’t be surprised.  You have been warned.

The Economy and Mental Health

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Mental Health and the Economic Downturn

 

The connection between austerity and mental illness

 

                Experiencing mental health and how it is handled, I have reached some conclusions. 

The first being that we definitely need better funded public health care as it pertains to mental wellness.  We have a system where health care workers are over taxed.  The rush to get those afflicted service are rushed through a system that is simply not equipped to handle the needs of a society that desperately needs more comprehensive mental health care, that is for everyone.

                As more and more employers turn the U.S. into palace of part-time employment, the reality of health care insurance is that many simply do not have access to it via their employers.  There are options to obtain insurance other ways, but all are invariably outside the income level of many.  Even full time employment that offers insurance, it is far from comprehensive.   Between co-pays for visits and often monthly costs, to simply to have the coverage is not enough. Out pocket costs are not practical, and quickly add up even with best of plans.

                Just employers cut down expansion, banks are reluctant to low, the belt tightening inside the Beltway is all about cuts to vital services.   In more and more cities, vital services are cut or eliminated that benefit the working class, the middle class, the disadvantaged, and ironically enough the very people suggesting we to to austerity programs that are not effective

                Look no further than Europe and the disaster of cut backs and leaner anorexic government has translated into low wages, frustration on the part of the public and in some cases a complete retirement of government all together.

                The notion that you stimulate an economy but cutting cutting and cutting just adds fuel to the fire.  This is the kind of fire that just keeps burning.

                It is no secret to anyone there is waste in government.  There are programs that are long past their prime, or just excuses to keep people employed who are doing next to nothing at all.

                On the flip side, government provides services, stimulates the creation of jobs and actually has a beneficial impact.  The problem has never been big government versus small government, the real issue is effective government as a opposed to bloated government that caters to special interests and lobbyists advancing an agenda works against the interests of the greater good.

                Persuasively, Republicans have put forth the notion of fiscal responsibility and cutting government. But his was the same party, accompanied by corporate Democrats and those blowing with the political winds, decided that a massive war while cutting taxes was a wise move.

                After 911, that same group rode a tidal wave.  Once in office, it became clear that the very people that voted them into office would be left hanging when government was made smaller.

                The Tea Party attitude of populism was little more than a good sales campaign for a party that knew full and well if their real agenda were known, not one of them could be elected dog catcher.

                The agenda was simple. Attack school teachers as over paid, make fireman over paid and make the public pay for services previously covered by taxes.

                It this was not bad enough, Unions and collective bargaining became public enemy number one.  Demonizing unions as obstacles to employment, unrealistic demands and union dues demanded of everyone, suddenly unions and government employees became scape goats.

                The argument that unions were universally bad, corrupt and full of bloat seems to ignore the simple fact that working conditions and pay have become worse.  As time as gone by, few and fewer full time posts exist as we go towards a part time economy.

 

                From my own experiences, I had full time employment with a company that offered private insurance through a large company.  This was offered at for a cost.  If you wanted what amounts to real coverage, you had to pay much more than the basic plan offered.  In short, you had an affordable plan that everyone could utilize, but offered  high copays, or a higher priced plan that provided what most people wanted with a smaller co-pay.  Why  Americans have not protested co-pays has always been a mystery to me, but then again, protests have happened, but they simply did not effect change.

                As well intended as the Occupy Movement has been, and I fully support their objectives, the lack of central organization, the lack of defined leaders and the lack of a clear to understand message, the movement lost momentum.   It was effective in pulling people out of their chairs and into streets. That it did do.  But, when it came to harnessing and utilizing the strength of individuals, local business owners and a cross section the population of America, Democratic, Republican, Independent and assorted political persuasions in between, everyone was gathered wondering what to do next.  Aside from walking around a bank protesting economic inequity, Occupy has yet to provided electable candidates that can actually effect real change.

                Note, I am not underestimating “grass roots” movements.  People and numbers are powerful.  Even under repressive regimes, when people organize around one idea and are motivated, tyrants will toppled. Look no further than now, look further back to France, Russia and China, to name a few, all became oligarchy free.

                We in the U.S.  have been directed to see protest as ineffective.  However, it is not the fault of the people as much as it is a society that places a premium on consumption and minimum on quality of life that impacts the community.  Rather than look at the common good and the resources we all share, the philosophy that guides some of us can be summed up as “I got mine, and now you get yours.” 

                Old cliché, “Pull yourself by your own bootstraps,” is still part of the political dialog.  However,  what if you have no straps with which to pull yourself upward?  This is not about personal responsibly. There is that to contend with, but in a culture where things have reached this point, shared responsibility is not part of the equation.

                How does this factor in to public mental health?  It does in a direct way. Over time, seem to have “historical amnesia” on how we arrived at this point and the policies of the Bush administration and those immediately before him, including the some the policies endorsed by the Clintons, included N.A.F.T.A. and the wars in the middle east, we the public ended up with lower wages, the middle class, even the affluent, having to bear the cost of these wars and tax breaks that were completely unnecessary. 

                At no point in time have lowering the taxes during a time of war makes sense. But no one had a problem sending your brave men and women to combat and not being concerned about their physical and mental health when they returned.  The “We are Number One,” chant was great when we saw massive weapons and troops in valiant uniforms.  When the men and woman came back, mutilated, physically and mentally damaged and in need of long term care, those, many of whom were not middle class, but working class, found themselves literally on their own.  We loved them when they left, ignored them when they came home.  Is it any wonder that those who fight these wars and do not receive proper mental healthcare become violent, antisocial and eventually mass murders with the weapons and the knowledge to wreak havoc and death.

                The old school of thought said that world war one and those vets did not need psychiatrists and the like. Those brave men and women were tougher.  

                Reality paints a different story.  People came back scared. It maybe the numbers may have been smaller. 

                One point no one can ignore is that our heroic men and women in combat have been in it much longer that four or five years.  The mental and physical demands of constant long term tours of duty has to translate into mental health issues greater than those of their predecessors.

                We greeted the heroic of world war two with parades.  Vietnam vets and the Middle Easter war vets were invisible.  The recent wars were fought by the economically challenged who had few options except to serve the country.  Whatever motivated them, they risked their lives to protect this country.

                The condescending line “That’s for your service” sounds condescending. They certainly deserve more than superficial gratitude from politicians. At the very very minum, they desrerve life time mental health care and some place to live in safely.  I do not think that is too much to ask. Had we done this, there would be fewer violent victims of PTSD. 

                In the discussion of gun control, mental health has been mentioned, but it is not brought to the forefront as much as one might think.  Limiting the kinds of arms available to the general public makes sense. (Please note: I “DID NOT SAY ELIMINATE PRIVATE GUN OWNERSHIP!  I have no problem with responsible SANE Men and Women with Guns.)  

                However, all of the gun control in the world will help curtail the problem, but it is one part of a larger picture.  If we have a public attune to the signs of mental health problems and a culture that promotes healthier lifestyles, perhaps, just maybe, we will have fewer mass murders.

                There is no one pat answer to guns and violence. A combo maybe in order to alleviate this issue.

                With all of this said, how does the economy impact mental health?  That is relatively easy to see.  As more people lose their jobs as high paying ones become scare, housing, petroleum, food and everything else goes up, along with transportation, taxes, tuition and heath care costs, the pressures on individuals, families and communities takes a toll. The pressure is unrelenting and with no nets or safety nets, people are falling between the cracks.

                If one believes we have enough government funding services, like health care, think seriously again.  More projects aimed the economically disadvantaged or being stressed to the breaking point.  Long stop call, service is limited.  Of the many that seeking mental health care that needs serious, 80 percent are turned down.  Even if those deemed “seriously ill” still are at risk, the number becomes scary in terms of who has access to comprehensive mental, and medical health care.

                There is so much to say about the connection between income, mental health care, and social systems breaking down.

                What makes all of this truly difficult is that many are simply not aware of mental illness, or fail to even know the signs.

                As some mental disorders make the headlines, the reality of being diagnosed means dealing with those who not only fail to understand mental illness, they fail to see the need for medications, therapies and long term vigilance. 

                For some, mental health care may require a few visits to a psychiatrist, a therapist and group and they may move along. For others, group therapy, cognitive therapy, meetings with therapists and long term prescription medication are lifelong.

                At one point, I was one of those who believed that long term visits to a therapist or group would be counterproductive.  I thought that at some point you need to move forward.

                That very thinking is simply not an accurate view when it comes to mental health wellness.  For those struggling with depression, anxiety, depression and anxiety, unipolar disorder, PTSD, schizophrenia, Bipolar and assorted other life threatening disorders.  

                Some disorders do not interfere with normal life, if managed and contained by support systems.  Others maybe treated over time.  

                Some consider mental disorders a lack of character. It is not so much a lack of character, but biology.     

                The connection between genetics, environment and life experiences all play are role.  The fundamental concept that brain chemistry and inherited characteristics makes a good case for chemical imbalances as a source for mental disorders.

                The evidence is not completely in, but those with a history of family mental illness are more prone to suffer them. This is particularly true for those closely related.

                Until more is known, mental illness remains an enigmatic mystery.  It is hoped that science, research and a society focused on the public good may see the need for more insight into this subject and less focus on guilt, blame and shame.