Category: Humanities

There are multiple ways an artist may choose to deal with personal grief.  Some allow the theme of their work to capture their feelings. Artist Motoi Yamamoto has taken his grief work one step further by choosing a medium that itself is symbolic of death.

Yamamoto was in art school in 1996 when his 24 year old sister died, just two years after her diagnosis of brain cancer. Immediately he began to use art as a way to deal with his grief. His exploration led him to the medium of salt, which is a part of the death ritual in Japan. At the end of funerals, mourners are handed salt to sprinkle on themselves as a way to ward of evil spirits.

Not only is salt a funeral ritual, it is also allows his masterpieces to be impermanent. When the exhibit is finished, the piece is destroyed, and visitors are encouraged to take some salt and place it back in the sea. Symbolic, I think, of human life; a masterpiece that must come to an end, and the body returned back to the elements from which it was formed.

To create the works, Yamamoto uses a simple plastic bottle, often taking 50 hours or more to complete. The amount of salt used is expansive, in the range of 2000 pounds and up.

When you look at his installations, it is obvious that the process is tedious and time consuming. This too is intentional, as Yamamoto said in an interview with the Japan Times, “I draw with a wish that, through each line, I am led to a memory of my sister… That is always at the bottom of my work. Each cell-like part, to me, is a memory of her that I call up”

I find the work breathtaking in both the intricacy and the overall finished project.

To see a video of Yamamoto at work see below or follow this link.

Cross published at http://arts.pallimed.org/2011/10/motoi-yamamoto.html

When you look up “Country Music” you’ll mainly find definitions about origin.  One unwritten stereotype, however, is the emotional narrative of the genre, that can at times feel as if the listener is being manipulated to tears.

There surely is a cathartic aspect to listening to songs that make you cry, as evidenced on a recent home visit of mine.  I was seeing a young cancer patient, and the TV was set on CMT, with country videos playing in the background.  What shocked me was that the patient’s young wife and friends had me pause to watch part of a video in which the theme of the song was about death.  The wife commented, “We just love these songs, and sit here and cry with them all day” (As if there wasn’t reason enough).

Well, there are plenty of country songs to cry about. In fact, there may be enough songs to actually form an unofficial sub-genre called ‘Cancer Country’ as mentioned by Ron Rosenbaum in a 2007 article published on Slate.com.

So, if you are a country music fan or have friends or patients who are, add these next songs to your repertoire of emotional songs about people with cancer.  The warning label on these should read “may induce tears”

The oldest on my list is Tim Mcgraw’s “Live Like You Were Dying” written by Tim Nichols and Craig Wiseman in 2004.  The song is associated with Tim Mcgraw’s father who was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2003, living 9 months after diagnosis.  These lyrics set up the song, “I spent most of the next days, looking at the x-rays, Talking bout’ the options and talking bout’ sweet times. I asked him when it sank in, that this might really be the real end. How’s it hit ‘cha when you get that kind of news?”

In 2005 Rascal Flats released the single “Skin” written by Joe Henry and Doug Johnson. Known by fans as “Sara Beth” the song is about a girl with Leukemia going to her prom.  An example of the lyrics, “Sara Beth is scared to death, as she sits holding her mom, ’cause it would be a mistake for someone to take a girl with no hair to the prom”

Craig Morgan released his single “Tough” in 2007. This song is about a breast cancer surviver who teaches her husband a lesson about being ‘tough’.  The lyrics say it all, “She wore that wig to church, pink ribbon pinned there on her shirt, no room for fear, full of faith, hands held high singing Amazing Grace. Never once complained, refusing to give up, and I thought I was tough”

Finally, Randy Owen, former vocalist in the band Alabama, released his first solo single in 2008 entitled “Braid My Hair” written by Chris Gray and Brent Wilson. The song is about a bald headed girl going through chemotherapy and dreaming about what she will do once she’s well, as the lyrics state, “I’m gonna ride my bike, I’m gonna climb a tree. Gonna fly a kite, score running little league. I’m gonna go to school, make a friend, be able to run again. Take off my mask and just breath in the air. But most of all I’m gonna braid my hair.”

Besides being about cancer, each of these songs has another central theme- one we in Palliative Medicine talk about a lot – the theme of ‘quality of life’ living.  Each central person is dreaming about and attempting to live a full life in the midst of disease.

Anyone know of any other “cancer country” songs that should be included?

Cross published http://arts.pallimed.org/2011/04/cancer-country-music.html

Grandma I’ll Miss You is written by Kathyrn Slattery and illustrated by Renee Graef.  The book was published by Chariot Books in 1993 and is listed for ages 4-8.

The main character in this book is Katy, who is dealing with some very mixed emotions. She is aware her grandmother is dying and she is also anticipating the birth of a new sibling.  This book uniquely brings in the idea of birth being similar death.

The beginning of the book is very story like, spending most time on Grandma’s life. I suppose you could say this is the life review portion, as Grandma shares memories from her life.  As in the last two books reviewed, one of the big questions Katy has is “What will happen to Grandma when she dies? and Is there really such a place as heaven?” Unlike the other books these are just thoughts Katy has and aren’t directly addressed.

What is refreshing is that Katy actually asks her grandma, “are you afraid about dying?” This leads to a creative illustration linking death and birth together. The grandma admits her slight fear, but then tries to put herself into the unborn babies shoes, as the baby too has no concept of what it will soon experience.

The next pages are very Christian based in concepts about heaven, and about getting a new body there. Katy and her Grandma wrap up the conversation and then the very next morning the Grandma dies. I did appreciate the statement on the book’s last page, “Death, in its way, was as natural a part of life as birth”, something we in palliative care definitely understand.

The illustrations in this book are simple and realistic. There isn’t any thing that stands out in color scheme or medium used.

In terms of recommendation, this book probably has the most narrow audience of the one’s we’ve reviewed. If it is line with a family’s personal beliefs, then it would be a good conversation book, though it seems geared to older than the quoted 4-8 yr. old.  I did enjoy the normalization of death as similar to birth, and think there could be some other concepts related to that link to help grieving kids.

I hope to keep reading and familiarizing myself with what’s out there so that when families ask me what to do, I’ll be able to delve into the issue of concern, and make some more informed recommendations!

Cross published at http://arts.pallimed.org/2011/03/childrens-books-on-grief-gandma-ill.html

If you look at any bibliography of childhood grief books, it is likely to be quiet extensive! Take for instance the bibliography on the Child Grief Education Association website, here.  The good news is that there is no shortage of literature available.

My question is, though, with so many choices- which ones are the best? This answer probably has much to do with the child’s age, the questions they are asking and simply the child’s personal preferences in books.  A simple title of a book won’t give any insight into the intricacies of the book, thus we must rely on word of mouth or websites such as BarrHarris.org,  Childlife.org or the many other hundreds of grief websites that give a synopsis of the books. But even this doesn’t give a clear understanding of what the book is like.

The best option, would be to read them all ourselves. While a lofty goal that I have not yet achieved, this week I did the best I could; I went to my local library in rural America and checked out all the books I could find on childhood grief.  Hopefully the reviews of these books, with illustrations and story plot will give you a more thorough idea of some of the children’s books out there.

For this first post I have chosen a book that has great appeal for adults as well as children. I would consider it a “cross-over” book, and may in fact be more of an adult book disguised as a children’s book.

Tear Soup is written by Pat Schwiebert and Chuck Deklyen, Illustrated by Taylor Bills.  Published as a 3rd Rev. edition by Grief Watch in 2005, the age level listed for reading is age 4-8.

The main character is Grandy, who has suffered a ‘great loss’. She spends the pages working on her tear soup, which serves as a marvelous symbol of grief.  The universal statements packed into the book are so subtle, sometimes it takes a moment to recognize them.  For example, “It seems that grief is never clean… To make matters worse, grief always takes longer to cook than anyone wants it to”

She deals with adding memories to the pot and even the profound concept of the time that memories seem to run out, and the emptiness felt then. There are interactions with neighbors and friends, as Grandy says, “They filled the air with words, but none of their words took the smell of tear soup away.” Or when she comments that, “most people can tolerate only a cup of someone else’s tear soup.”

The book also approaches faith issues, as Grandy “demanded to know where God was when she was feeling so all alone.”

As one might guess, Grandy works through her grief until she realizes it’s time to eat something else instead of only tear soup.  The book ends with a nice summary of Grandy’s journey,

“I’ve learned that grief, like a pot of soup, changes the longer it simmers and the more things you put into it. I’ve learned that sometimes people say unkind things, but they really don’t mean to hurt you…and most importantly, I’ve learned that there is something down deep within all of us ready to help us survive the things we think we can’t survive.”

This book has wonderful illustrations and while I am not sure a preschool child would understand the significance of all the metaphors, it would certainly provide a starting point for topic discussions. It may also serve as a great recommendation for a family with an adult who has been resistant to dealing with their own grief… by innocently entering into the realm of a kid’s book, they may be surprised to have issues raised within themselves.

Stay tuned over the next weeks for more reviews of children’s literature and feel free to leave your own favorite children’s books about grief in the comment section below.

Cross published at http://arts.pallimed.org/2011/01/childrens-books-on-grief-tear-soup.html

One of the things I enjoy about the arts, is the ability to continually stimulate more art. Art imitates life, life imitates art, and art even imitates art.

It is widely believed that it is from Durer’s image that artist John Hamilton Mortimer got his inspiration for his drawing “Death on a Pale Horse”(1775). He embellished the image further, pulling the horseman away from the group and adding an even more frightening tone.

I must admit that Bedrich Smetana (1824-1884) is not one of those composers I go around mentioning or hear brought up in conversation much. In fact, the name didn’t even sound familiar when I first started researching this piece. However, his ‘Piano Trio in G minor” is familiar, and the story of it’s inception is worthy of a post for this blog.

Cross published at http://arts.pallimed.org/2010/09/bedrich-smetana-piano-trio-in-g-minor.html

I’m sure you’ve had those ah-ha moments when listening to songs and finally really “hearing” the lyrics. This happened to me this week as I had the children’s music writer/singer Justin Roberts on. On one of the slower songs on his album “Meltdown” (2006) I suddenly heard words that I realized were talking about dying.

Justin Roberts –web– –Facebook– –Twitter @MusicianJustin– –YouTube–

Does anyone not know the name Picasso? Based on sales of his works at auctions, he holds the title of top ranked artist according to the Art Market Trends report. He was also a prolific artist with estimates of 50,000 works of art produced in his lifetime. (This includes paintings, drawings, sculptures, etc).

Pablo Picasso worked up until the day he died at age 91; literally painting till 3 am on Sunday, April 8th, which was just hours before his death.

His last well known self-portrait was done a little less than a year before his death, entitled Self Portrait Facing Death (June 30, 1972).

The piece is done with crayon on paper, and took several months to complete. A friend, Pierre Daix, tells of his memory of the piece on a visit to Picasso, “[Picasso] held the drawing beside his face to show that the expression of fear was a contrivance.” Then on another visit 3 months later, Pierre recalled that the harsh colored lines were even deeper, and Pierre writes, “He did not blink. I had the sudden impression that he was staring his own death in the face, like a good Spaniard”

There is much commentary about this piece. People talk about the fear of death Picasso had and how terrified his eyes look. They comment on the deep lines of age, and the work symbolizing Picasso’s confrontation of death.

I’m placing them in order, and wonder if there is a comment in the progression, I certainly feel there is a change with each. (Copyright Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York)

In all his works through the next months before his death, I saw no further self portraits, these above were done in a burst, as if when done with these, he was done contemplating self and death.

Picasso’s death itself was sudden, waking on the morning of

the 8th with an inability to get out of bed, calling for his wife, and dying 10 mins later. His cause of death was likely a heart attack with complications from heart failure.

I am happy to have stumbled upon the other portraits, giving us different glimpses of the idea of himself. Having such different works done in such a short time, gives testament to the complexity of all of our own self concepts. Just as I see the feelings of chaos, fear and acceptance in the works above, my own patients contemplating death can bounce from chaos, fear and acceptance sometimes in the span of a few hours.

References and more reading on the title piece:

http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/picasso/home/ed/8works/8works_8

http://www.artst.org/picasso/PabloPicasso-Self-Portrait-1972.jpg.html

*And special thanks to Karen Faught for alerting me to this piece

Cross published at http://arts.pallimed.org/2010/07/pablo-picasso-self-portrait-facing.html

Thanks to Phyllis Lee for alerting me to this!

Scott Joplin is known as “The King of Ragtime”, with such famous pieces as Maple Leaf Rag and The Entertainer. Born near Texarkana, Texas in 1867/68, Scott Joplin began playing the piano at age 7, at the homes where his mother cleaned and did laundry.

Ragtime was popular between 1897 and 1918, ironically paralleling Joplin’s career. In fact it was the publication of Maple Leaf Rag in 1899 spurred the popular spread of ragtime.

Early in his career, Joplin lived in Sedalia, Missouri. He married Belle Hayden in 1899, the marriage lasting only a few years. Although they had one daughter, she died only a few months after birth.

It was on a trip back to Sedalia, traveling through Arkansas, that he met Freddie Alexander, falling instantly in love. He wrote the piece “The Chrysanthemum”(1904) for her, which many regard as one of his most beautiful pieces. Listen to a bit of this upbeat ragtime song, since we’ll contrast it with another piece at the end.

The two were married in June 1904 in Little Rock, Arkansas and took a train back to Sedalia, stopping a few days at a time to play concerts. It took a whole month to travel home and upon reaching Sedalia, Freddie was feverish. What seemed to be the flu, slowly turned to pneumonia and in September 1904, Freddie died. Only married 10 short weeks, Joplin was devastated. He left Sedalia for good after her funeral.

In his grief, Joplin wrote “Bethena”(1905). Experts believe that this was in honor of Freddie, and quite the contrast from “The Chrysanthemum” written when he fell in love. On the original publication there is a picture of a woman, which some have even speculated is a picture of Freddie.

I think if you listen to this, you’ll hear the grief but also a type of endearment. Ragtime in its nature is not sad or depressing. The ability for Joplin to take such an upbeat genre and still convey sorrow is truly remarkable. I’d heard this piece before, not knowing the background; Context, once again, is everything.

Scott Joplin developed complications from tertiary syphilis in 1916, and required admission to Manhattan State Hospital in January 1917 due to a “decent into madness”. He died there April 1, 1917.

Cross published http://arts.pallimed.org/2010/06/scott-joplin-bethena-1905.html