Oh The Pain

“The only way people can really describe pain is to objectify it.” I have heard before that we do lose a little bit of meaning when we try to represent a theme in a visual work or in writing. We discussed this in class too. Writing does not fully capture what we want to say. It is difficult for us to use language to describe something in a way others understand. This limitation can go for other art forms too. The article challenged me to think about how when we talk about pain, we usually use the objects that caused the pain as adjectives or verbs. It also made think about the objects that were created to alleviate pain. A Chair, for example, is not what I think of when I think of art, and an object invented to make us weightless. Objects like chairs do represent pain and our willingness to ease pain, rather than to endure it. “When people forge tools or build things, they are often trying to alleviate discomfort. But first, they must define the discomfort” We had to first feel discomfort for us to create a chair. We must first experience pain for us to represent it. It is true that when people build something or forge tools, they are usually trying to ease the pain. Because of this explanation, I understand how pain fuels production and creativity. Not only objects but many people need to write their pain, in a diary for example. Maybe we want other people to understand our pain so we create something to do that. Maybe we want to help others resolve or alleviate a painful situation. Maybe a pain is so universal we must make into an object of art for people to observe.