Thursday, May 14, 2015

Dreary hospital building


Hospital and clinic buildings, in my experience, are always dreary and devoid of character. Here in the USA the modern ones are built of brick, concrete, and glass, like an office building with no business going on. Well, health care is a business but you want to pretend it's there to heal you. I accompanied my mother for an MRI in this building, which is in Concord, Massachusetts. It was a Saturday and the building was almost completely deserted, as if no one were sick or injured on Saturday. I got lost in the building looking for the cafe that was supposed to be there. After finding the eatery, which was surprisingly open and staffed, I got lost on the way back. I did this drawing while waiting for the wheelchair wagon that would take us back to the rehab facility where Mother was lodged. Mother has had 5 hospital stays in 2 years, due to falls and broken bones, gastric problems, and heart problems. This is "par for the course," as the saying goes, for upper-middle-class elder care in the USA. 

Black technical pen ink on sketchbook page, about 5" x 7", April 11, 2015. The dreariness of the building was alleviated by the unintentional rudeness of the patron's name, "John Cuming."

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