I have been very surprised to hear a copy of the sculpture “The Thinker” is in the garden of a mental hospital in Istanbul, Turkey.
Why would they put it in a Mental Hospital? What’s the meaning of it?
From your link: “It depicts a man in sober meditation battling with a powerful internal struggle.”
I guess the hospital thought that had some relevance to psychiatry.
A man thinking, a mental hospital: it seems pretty appropriate to me. Indeed, it is hard to imagine a better statue for a mental institution. What is the problem?
< beat >
Rodin. Crazy.
< /beat >
Better than a statue of The Scream.
I could see someone taking it as an insult. Sort of like the patients in the institution don’t have a medical problem, but simply need to “think” rationally and sort out their issues. I know it seems weak, but people are offended by less…
Wowser…or should I say…Meowser…
Did I say it is a problem?
No - but you did say you were surprised - why are you surprised?
Yes.
You asked a question about it, implying that it puzzled you. A puzzle is a type of problem.
Let me put it another way: Why are puzzled?
Because I did not understand the meaning of positioning it in a garden.
Where else would you put it? Rodin’s statues were designed to be displayed outdoors.
Maybe someone there is a fan of “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis”.
Are you all trying to get a rise out of me? I am NOT criticizing the place where it’s been put or the reason that they have put. I am an human being ONLY trying to understand, by learning your opinions, the reason behind the fact that it’s been put in a garden of a mental hospital. Yes, it’s perfectly OK to put it in the garden. I would not put it INSIDE the hospital, instead put it in the garden as the hospital has done.
Perhaps the OP is asking why a major piece of work like this isn’t in a public museum rather than a hospital? If so, I think the answer is that it’s not one of the original 20 castings, but one of many later castings.
Because his "Hells Gate" piece would probably be a bit inappropriate?
If you would put it in the garden as the hospital has done, then what’s the question?
I have a similar question. My neighbor just planted an apple tree in the southeast corner of his property. It’s a beautiful tree, will yield beautiful fruit, and if I owned his property, I would put an apple tree in the exact same location. My question: Why in the hell would he put an apple tree in that spot?
Is English, perhaps, not your native language?