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Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Critical Analysis of Drawings on Tile: Part I of a Series

The walls of the pediatric ward at our local hospital are decorated with touching tiles made by children about illness, recovery, or any of the other fascinating things that can occupy the mind of a child about weighty topics such as death, dying, and cancer. Though they could only work in blue, yellow, green, and maroon, since these were the only colors given to them by the Color Nazi hospital admins, the tiles add an artistic flair to the dull walls of the hospital. They were drawn by children who are now grown adults. Maybe they can look back at these tiles of yore make some objective observations about their art. And since we can't possibly track down those folks, we will offer our own critical analysis of the tiles in Part I of the series.


Farrah: This picture doesn't really differentiate between hurt and better. The sun is shining in both sections which doesn't really leave kids with a motivation to move towards better. A+ for spelling. B- for leaves on trees.

Mariam: I completely concur with your analysis. I really don't see much difference except that the tree is closer to the so-called "patients" in the "better" picture. I am truly not getting a sense as to what the hospital did for this child except plant some trees. Def a C- effort and that is only because I'm feeling generous.

--By Farrah and Mariam, who are not this critical of people who are still children, and who actually want to heal kids when they grow up (which probably won't happen anytime soon)

12 comments:

Nick Carraway said...

Love the joint venture.
what i don't get is that getting better for the kid meant that someone had to shrink. So maybe it was some sort of an endocrine disorder.
Also, is that heart block on the ekg?

MariamQ said...

I showed this picture to my mom and she says we are "mean." I don't really care bec. both of us are dedicating our careers to helping kids. So whatevs mom

Farrah said...

It used to be a heart block until we changed the picture again. We're in the process of redecorating.

I was worried that people would think this was mean, but I'm just teasing and I don't have any malicious intent. Maybe I should post my own kindergarten drawings so that there is equal opportunity teasing.

Linz said...

I think that this is an early commentary on the green movement, and being closer to nature makes you happier. Also the sun has retreated slightly in the "better" picture so that is representative of reduced global warming.

Duh guys.

Love the remodel! It looks so fancy.

Nick Carraway said...

I think the picture of the girl crying on the right side of the blog should have a different caption reflecting mariam's surgery experience from her previous post.

Shaz said...

I like the new design.

Emily said...

My theory on the picture is not that one person is getting shorter, but that the maroon-clad individual (most likely the autobiographical patient in question) is getting taller, or perhaps is able to stand where before she was not. One can only suppose she recovered from malnourishment or growth hormone deficiency or perhaps a leg injury. Observe how in the "better" picture, she towers over not only her companion but also the tree, to which she has undoubtedly drawn closer to demonstrate her newfound height and mobility.

Unknown said...

As someone who used to taunt children before they got their vaccines, even i am appalled by the nature of this blog entry. I think we need to hear more about mariam getting squirted with poop... and rectal examinations.

MariamQ said...

Emily while I am impressed by your well thought-out analysis, I have one minor point of contention. The patient may be bigger and taller in the better picture, but clearly the patient has no legs in either picture.

This can only be solved by asking the artist.

Lyndsay said...

I had the same thought about the tile before reading your analysis. If anything, the lady in the tent dress's eyes become more skewed. What kind of illness would you have to have in the beginning to be satisfied with an outcome like that?

Emily said...

Oh Mariam, clearly the patient is wearing a floor-length maroon gown, symbolizing the celebratory nature of her recovery. You don't see the legs of someone in a floor-length ballgown.

Anonymous said...

It is obvious that the "hurt" was an opthalmic one. Look at how big the eyes got!!! The treatment had a side effect of distorting the distance and size of viewed objects.