Gothic Expressionism

Do You Know About How Much Does An Elephant Weigh?

Elephants began their evolutionary history about the same time as humans. While the elephants kept on grazing and getting bigger, the two-legged human just got leaner and meaner and we probably owe our current status as 'resident bully' to the enormous caloric barbeques these creatures provided.

This is about when some humans began their profession as painters, the first stirrings of cross-referencing reality. Since no records were kept, no one can know for certain, but it's believed cave paintings, such as those in Roufflignac, Altamira or Lasceaux, were highly ritualized pre-enactments of a later, actual event to ensure a successful kill- meat on the table, a brand-new coat and a bit of jewelry. Nice. And proboscides were at the top of the menu. In these vast, dark caves of Paleolithic Europe, early man created stunning images of creatures it liked to eat; here too, no doubt, were the spawning of religion and insurance companies. These primitive images coalesced with objects of fertility; sex then life then death, which gave us Egyptian artifacts and Greek statuary, Roman temples, Gothic churches, Michelangelo's Capello Sistina, the horrific visions of Goya, Monet's haystacks, Picasso's bulls, Abstract Expressionism, and the Campbell Soup Cans by Andy Warhol.

What were elephants doing all this time to satisfy their artistic spirit? My guess is they simply bypassed all this convoluted, symbolic 'stuff' and simply ate. And they need to. They're big and terribly inefficient processors of food. Who has time to think about making art, anyway, when you have to keep packing in kilos of fodder and liters of water? A wild, bull elephant can eat, daily, the weight in vegetation of about two humans. Imagine if they were carnivores.

The elephant is one of the most interesting and beautiful creatures on earth. They can weigh up to seven tons for the bulls- about the weight of a truck.

Or perhaps they simply never had the angst we have that propels our exigency to create. In the last decade there has been an explosion of media hype about the newly discovered artistic abilities of elephants. Not only can they paint with the energy and style of a William De Kooning or Franz Kline, they can also play a variety of musical instruments. He believes elephants not only enjoy human music but they also like to play it. Doing so obviously helps raise money for their upkeep and Soldier sees no problem with the elephant's transition from logging to show business. As an artist, I've been very curious about all of this. I have mixed feelings about the notion of elephants painting and playing musical instruments. Elephants are just one of many animals humans have used and abused long before the Romans perfected the concept of zoos and circuses. One subspecies of the African elephant was brought to extinction during the ancient Roman Empire's relentless passion for ivory. Palaces were literally constructed from the teeth of these creatures.

In addition they have elongated teeth made of ivory that aid them in getting food. They do use them also to lift heavy objects including pushing down trees. These teeth are called tusks.

The most obvious characteristic of elephants, besides their massive size, is their trunk. Besides being used for breathing and smelling it is also used as an appendage, much like an arm or hand. Elephants are capable of pulling up to 11.5 liters (3 gallons) of water into the trunk to be sprayed into the mouth for drinking or onto the back for bathing.

On the other hand, where the conundrum really begins to blister, these are projects set up by humans that are meant to help the captive elephants. The problems of these elephants are not the same as wild elephants. They've been bonded to humans. You cannot undo that complicated, psychological relationship without creating additional problems for elephants and humans.

To better understand the painting project and to better filter out my own feelings, I took the opportunity and invitation to work with the 'painting' elephants at the Elephant Conservation Center in Lampang, Thailand. I found the process is necessarily and extensively collaborative. My job was to mix the colors and load the brush with pigment for the mahout who in turn placed the brush in the elephant's trunk. An important part of my job is to indicate when the painting is complete. The mahout often, though not always, influences the actual painting process; pushing the trunk left or right, guiding a tusk or occasionally using vocal commands.

And yet, it seems the elephant often applies pigment with conscientious deter-mination and it is obvious elephant painters, like human painters, have their own style. Some seem to prefer painting more than others and some seem more gifted. And some, like the charming Prathida, who was once a star painter, finds the whole brush and paint thing rather boring these days. He does it, but one gets the feeling, for him, its just another dumb job assigned by the humans. If elephants like to paint because they get bored in captivity, as some argue, then they would easily get bored from repetition. These creatures are made to paint for the tourists twice a day, seven days a week. Believe me, the elephants didn't sign up for it.

Elephants eat grass, small branches, and bark from trees.

The project with which I was involved had nothing to do with the tourist shows but rather to produce elephant paintings that are sold over National Geographic's Novica site. These paintings are done on good paper with quality acrylics. The project has been financially very successful in bringing much needed income into the Conservation Center. The cost of keeping one elephant is expensive. The Center has over fifty elephants; each elephant has been assigned at least one mahout, who has a family he must feed and clothe. And of course the administrative cost lies above it all.

Most elephants live in the grasslands of Africa and in the forests of Asia.

If I didn't call an end to the painting, would the elephant continue making the painting as long as it's given a loaded brush? If so, does this mean painting elephant are never given the chance to fully express themselves? And would a 'professional' elephant pick up a brush and paint away even if no human was present? These might seem like ridiculous questions, but are they? Everything is predicated on our sense of esthetics and our desires, not the elephant's. We have no idea what the elephant is really thinking or what it really wants. This project is all for the ultimate benefit of the elephants because they are rapidly disappearing from the planet and there are no real jobs for captive elephants since we've over-logged the forest, while at the same time destroying the natural habitat for the few remaining wild elephants. Without tourism to support that relationship between the captive elephant and the human, they will surely disappear. Projects like elephant paintings and elephant orchestras keep the public focused on the serious dilemma of the elephant."

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Gothic Expressionism - Jack and Charlie