Finals are looming over everyone's heads and there is a good chance you're feeling the same as I am — totally unprepared, completely exhausted and wondering how you're going to get everything done on time.
These are just the first thoughts starting to pile up. All the stress and work can make you feel like you need to scream, run away and hide somewhere. Thankfully, I've found a way to escape without 1) failing, 2) dropping out or 3) jumping on a bus to take you anywhere but here.
That way is art.
Twyla Tharp once said, "Art is the only way to run away without leaving home." She makes a great point. Creating art is a chance to escape the world around you by throwing yourself into your work.
There is a famous painting by Edvard Munch entitled "The Scream." You may have seen various versions of it from time to time and hopefully have thought to yourself, "Why is that guy so terrified?" Let's put ourselves in the character's shoes. Maybe he's a student about to embark on another semester's finals. Maybe he's totally unprepared, completely exhausted and wondering how he's going to get everything done on time as well.
No matter his reasoning — or rather, Munch's reasoning as to why the man in "The Scream" is so terrified — we can still interpret this work, along with others, to apply and help us cope with something personal in each of our lives.
That is what art is for. Artists place meaning behind every color, every line and every gesture created in their pieces. More importantly, each artist wants their viewers to be able to connect and feel something emotional from their piece. An artist wants to evoke feeling and allow for each viewer to find a way to personally attach his or herself to each piece.
As college students, we are preparing to go through another set of finals, find peace in the fact that you aren't the only one. Take some time to connect with the man in "The Scream" and realize that just like the painting, your panic is only one moment in time that will pass.
By evading the real world every once in awhile — hopefully through art — you allow yourself to recharge and remember what is most important. Maybe creating art isn't necessarily the way you escape, but everyone has something that helps him or her refresh and revitalize themselves.
In these upcoming stressful weeks, don't scream and run. Instead, take a deep breath, remind yourself that you can finish what's at hand.
Before you know it, finals will be over and you will be at home, soaking up the Christmas music and relishing in all those gifts you're about to open.
— Chamberlain is a junior from Jasper, Ind., majoring in art history and English literature. features@thedepauw.com
