The Great Equalizer

“What is it?” June asked the man.

“What do you think it is?” he replied. Having fielded this question before he now preferred to let the viewer do the mental work.

“A circle.”

“Yes.”

“A planet or a wheel maybe?”

“Okay.”

“A hole? A hole of nothingness?”

And here we go again. He smiled a sarcastic smile.

June’s eyes were fixed upon the piece. “A space that has no beginning and no end. Both full of something and full of nothing.” 

“That’s interesting,” he responded, checking his watch as he felt the familiar rumble of hunger move through his stomach.

“A comment about the great void. About the void that exists between perception and reality.”

“Uh huh.” The Doors of Perception, how original.

“The space wherein the material world ceases to be and everything we think we know, every possession we have, every item has no meaning and we are all back to square one, back to zero. The same. Like babies in utero with no concept of what lies ahead. Like old men just before death who know what’s behind them. Like sold out shows, out of stock shoes, empty shelves at the grocery store… The great equalizer.”

Empty shelves at the grocery store? He took a step back and gazed up at the painting.

“What is it really though?” June asked again, her mind reeling with thoughts of humanity, life and death, globalization, capitalism, society, the material world, Madonna, fingerless gloves, the lace shoelaces in her old, white high-top sneakers, groceries.

“It’s a circle,” he replied.