Mr.Fisher King Consoles Himself With Art

Mr. Fisher King Consoles Himself with Art
                                           
(At the Modernist Emporium.)              Old Hull, Quebec. November 1, 2003.


Why, it's Mr. Fisher King! How nice to see you again, Sir!
Come in to browse, have we? Lots of people with your problem do, you know. Nothing like a bit of shopping for nice things to soothe the pain, is there?

And how is young Dr. Percival? Still looking for the question, is he? Ah well. They say diagnosis is a difficult art. He'll find it one day, I'm sure. Seems like a very persistent gentleman to me.

Yes, well, why don't I show you some of the merchandise.

Here, for example, we have some very nice striped material from Barnett Newman's.
Fifteen feet of very neat colored stripes. No point in unrolling the whole thing: same three stripes all the way along. No variation in quality. A good, reliable, medium-priced house, Newman's. How much? Oh, to you,Sir, let's say about a hundred K a foot.  A million and a half for the whole roll. I mean, just look at the width of it!

And over here: some quality goods from Rothko's. Oblong pattern, of course; they specialize in oblongs down there. Very tricky pattern, oblongs. Even they still get the edges a bit fuzzy. And the color is rather drippy at the bottom. But they are still the best oblongs on the market, I assure you. A bit more expensive than stripes, of course, but worth every penny.

That object standing in the corner? Well, that's a bit of a problem, actually. It's an excellent double window, made of the very finest plate glass by Jackson Pollock's. It's true that all that industrial detritus pressed between the panes tends to obscure the view somewhat. Possibly it has some other function. We are contacting Pollock's to find out exactly what it's for before we set a price.

Can I switch them off?
What on earth do you mean?
What a strange question! Are you having a little joke with me?
Your war-wound acting up again, Mr. King? 
Would you like to lie down?
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NOTE This was not intended to be so obscure! That's just how it came to me; and I don't seem to have any choice about what comes. If you weren't amused, explanations won't help, but just in case anyone is curious...

Mostly it's about refusing to look at abtract  works of art (and poems that are not immediately intelligible) long enough to let them come to life for  us. The works mentioned are visible in the album at

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The Fisher King muscled his way in because I have been reading Robert A Johnson's "The Fisher King and the Handless Maiden", in which he applies the legend to modern society, where reason is emphasized so much that our feeling side is somewhat maimed---as is the Fisher King. He fishes for solace in things like art, as the only balm he knows for the wound in his creativity, while waiting for Percival(Parsifal) to ask the fundamental question that will break the spell and bring the head and the heart together again.

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