In certain "enlightened" intellectual circles, it is commonplace to denigrate malls and shopping centers as cesspits of consumerism. A barely concealed snobbism describes these places as gathering places for deluded, credit-addicted, mind-numbed lower middle class Americans who believe that possessions can give you happiness. Do liberal arts professors ever go into a mall? If they do, they'd better be incognito. Malls are full of manipulative artificiality, designed to extract as much cash from the masses as possible. Right?

I love malls. I love going into them and walking through the complex spaces created by storefronts, corners, hallways, and fountains. There have always been malls, but in other more "natural" and presumably less consumeristic countries, they are called Grand Covered Bazaar, or Khan-al-Khalili, the Flea Market, Galleria, or the Souk. In America, our malls are more permanent, cleaner, and more strongly built. Yet the stalls and brick halls of ancient Roman shopping centers still stand, as if ready to open up as soon as the shopkeepers get back.

I buy things in malls, just like everybody else in there, but I also draw in malls. You can't take photographs in a mall, especially now in our Age of Terror. If the security people see you taking a picture, they will ask you to stop. But no one stops you if you draw a picture, because they don't know what you are writing in that notebook. When I go into a mall, I choose a good vantage point, sit myself down on the uncomfortable bench (they don't want shoppers to sit for too long, because they won't circulate and buy stuff) and draw what is in front of me. I see countless subjects for art there. I like to go to the mall on Friday or a weekend, when there are lots of people there. It is a fashion show, a soap opera, a teen romance, a human interest story, or a comedy.

My most recent mall drawing depicted a common sight: middle-aged, patient and resigned husbands, waiting for their womenfolk to come out of the stores. Another common feature are the crowds of teens, dressed in what they consider their best, dashing around the corridors meeting and flirting. I was able to incorporate both in my drawing, though the teens moved too quickly to draw in detail. I like to depict the interaction of people, signage, and architecture. And I don't even have to get out my credit card. I get my drawing for free.

Posted at 3:22 am | link