House of the Homeless

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Even the planet Saturn has been implicated in the plight of the homeless. This is not a scientific assertion, but when science declines its opinion, it is not a scientific matter by default. We must, then, consider the alternatives, or look away. As homelessness is a problem in itself, and as it is disturbing to the rest of us, that makes it another problem altogether. It brings emotional disturbance causing the suffering of others. 

When material progress is impeded, mythology speaks to the soul. It is of artistic interest in that some of the mythology attributed to Saturn derives from its appearance. It looks like nothing else in the night sky. Its color is a distinctive yellow, an unhealthy hue, which I would characterize as pekid (< pique, peak-ed), being pale, wan, emaciated, sickly in color.

Saturn's jaundice color, and its slow, but relentless motion make it a matter of foreboding, symptomatic of disease. To say it is unlucky is an understatement. It is believed to be at home in the sky when in Capricorn, in the frozen, arid, mid-Winter month of January. At other times it is a reminder of Winter.

Cold, and hypothermia, is the homeless person's greatest danger. Every year the press tells of a few who perish by freezing to death. They go unnamed, like victims, as if not responsible for their fate. No one is guilty of freezing to death (by accident), but the feeling of guilt persists.

If Saturn is a portent of evil, the allegory is reversible. The homeless are a reminder of Saturn's influence. A dirty, greasy, tattered-clothed man is a reminder of Saturn's presence. Barren ground, grinding poverty, skid row squalor, constant danger, chronic disease, lost or stolen property, environment gone to seed, are all signs of Saturn.

Art has been said to raise materials above the crude, raw state in which they are found. In the course of history, art drifted away from representation towards illusionism, a trick. "The purpose of art is to conceal art," became the motive of art. Modernism was a pang of remorse and a reset. Art is not an ideal. It is earth, born of mud, grime, dirt, blood-stains (and worse), serving the sublimation of the materials. The coverup makes the disgrace conspicuous.

The graphic art of Brian Higgins can be viewed at: https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/8-brian-higgins
One-of-a-kind works of art can be viewed at: https://www.saatchiart.com/account/artworks/1840403

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