Alms for the Poor

The subject of my work is Homelessness. It is an ideal subject for art, because homelessness is a state, and a state is a condition of repose, therefore, the ideal state of a work of art. Jesus said, “The poor you will always have...” The poor come and go and live and die while the state of poverty remains. Poverty never goes away. Homelessness, therefore, is a human condition, one which exists “always.” The challenge, as an observer of the subject, is to exclude the non-states, those which are incidental to the subject. Harassment of the homeless is one such incidental. I am neither an advocate, nor a defender, of the homeless. There are valid arguments for "what to do" on every side of the problem. Neither is my work about beggars. Begging is a problem of such urgency as to be beyond representing instances of the problem. Begging is the opposite of repose; it demands a response, not the mean. Before continuing, I must disclose that I am not entirely disinterested, financially. My work is for sale. Almost as quickly, I can disclose that as a matter of personal interest, it gives me great satisfaction to give a needy person a bit of "spare change," when asked. Additionally, my choice of subject should be considered as falling under the protections envisaged by Good Samaritan standards. Helping beggars is discouraged, but a human right. My work is also not intended as either political propaganda or religious dogma. It is a personal matter. As a gesture of humility, I sign my work with an anonymous mark, a simple letter H. As we read in Scriptures, “That thine alms may be in secret...”