When I first walked into the exhibit, I felt as if I was walking into someone else’s mind/life. I felt as if the artist,Kai Althoff, wanted me to be him for the day. Honestly, I believed that the set up was beautiful and pinpoints every part of Kai Althoff’s brain. He pointed out every part of his life – from early childhood until the present. You can tell this artist was very troubled growing up. The exhibit itself was very emotional for me, but the one piece that stayed with me the most was the burnt down community.

When you walk towards the back, there is a black, burnt down town on display. The town was clearly attacked and I feel like this was symbolism for a lost of innocence or a war in his mind. Whether this be a real event in his life (which I believe this must be, considering the era he was born in), it was clearly a pivoting movement he had to endure. For me, the viewing of the town burnt down made me feel numb and destroyed. The house was destroyed, the church, everything. I was in shock – but if you look clearly into the rooms and other surroundings, not all have been destroyed. Jesus Christ was still intact within the church, as well as the white flag (which was only slightly burnt). I believe for this to be a sign that not all hope was lost – but this was still a beginning of what was to come.

After leaving that section of the exhibit, you walk into the back of a whole different setting. I feel as if Kai Althoff suffered from PTSD from such a traumatic event in his life. Everything was really messy and unkempt once you stepped passed the burning house. You can tell he lived a difficult life (and most likely a lonely one) with the way everything was set (hoarded, items all over the place, his makeshift bed). There was even a burnt large doll with a little doll hanging from the hand. I felt as if that was his mother and him, struggling to hold on, especially after the traumatic event.

Overall, the exhibit was beautiful to me. I loved it so much and you can clearly see his heart and an array of emotions went into making this. The music as well pinpointed every emotion he had, not just the physical items itself. I would love to go see this again.

Why are parents so quick to snap at girls for their behavior and not boys?

Does Prufrock suffer from some form of mental illness, or does he suffer from humanity?

Why does the lamb have to represent innocence and the “tyger” represent evil? Why can’t the lamb represent ignorance and the tyger represent realism?

Why is being a child associated with paradise/heaven? I know it’s because William Wordsworth believes that children are the embodiment of Heaven, but aren’t children just innocent because they don’t know anything yet? Why is not knowing anything about life at such a young age (which is normal) considered celestial?

I find it very interesting that throughout life, the most abundant people have a some moment of guilt because they have it all and live a luxurious life. I wonder, is the monkey seeking out this enlightenment because he felt guilty, or because there is more to life than just living prosperously? Did he just get bored with his life?

And why find enlightenment when you wanted to find immortality? I honestly don’t believe those two go “hand in hand”.

Descartes lived in a time where religion/God was the center of life and the only form of structure you needed to adhere to. He stated in the first set of rules he abides by (that makes up his definition of “logic) –

” (1) The first was never to accept anything as true if I didn’t have evident knowledge of its truth: that is carefully to avoid jumping to conclusions and preserving old opinions, and to include in my judgments only what presented itself to my mind vividly and so clearly that I had no basis for calling it in question.”

Throughout Part 4 of his findings, he illustrates why God exists – but religion is not something you can prove (or disprove) and the evidence is not clearly there. I find it ironic that he rejects many things in life, but not the existence of God. Does he accepts the existence of God out of fear? Why doesn’t he reject the idea of God once he set out to find the full knowledge of life?