TheAnnschki

Eve:

After my teacher introduced us to this theory, she asked us, “is love a feeling? Or is it a choice?” We were all a bunch of teenagers. Naturally we said it was a feeling. She said that if we clung to that belief, we’d never have a lasting relationship of any sort.

She made us interview a dozen adults who were or had been married and we asked them about their marriages and why it lasted or why it failed. At the end, I asked every single person if love was an emotion or a choice.

Everybody said that it was a choice. It was a conscious commitment. It was something you choose to make work every day with a person who has chosen the same thing. They all said that at one point in their marriage, the “feeling of love” had vanished or faded and they weren’t happy. They said feelings are always changing and you cannot build something that will last on such a shaky foundation.

The married ones said that when things were bad, they chose to open the communication, chose to identify what broke and how to fix it, and chose to recreate something worth falling in love with.

The divorced ones said they chose to walk away.

Ever since that class, since that project, I never looked at relationships the same way. I understood why arranged marriages were successful. I discovered the difference in feelings and commitments. I’ve never gone for the person who makes my heart flutter or my head spin. I’ve chosen the people who were committed to choosing me, dedicated to finding something to adore even on the ugliest days.

In the hands of Spanish sculptor Gerard Mas 15th century ladies (and the occasional gentleman) exchange their Renaissance poise for modern day whimsy and sarcasm. Each marble sculpture depicts a period figure doing something decidedly uncharacteristic for their time, such as chewing gum, picking their nose, enjoying a lollipop, sporting tattoos or bikini tan lines, and doing a headstand.

“I thought about the millions of attitudes and situations that old artworks couldn’t capture because they were simply inappropriate for a lady in the 15th century,” Mas says. “I decided to try to do it in an old media and style. It was something like an invented old art. After that, the anachronisms came and pop elements, too, as a natural evolution.”

Follow Gerard Mas on Instagram to check out more of his delightfully anachronistic sculptures.

speaker 1: What, they can’t drive out of each other’s way?

speaker 2: It looks like they can’t drive out of each other’s way. There’s not enough space. And they’re fighting.

speaker 1: They should have just pulled off and let the excavator go first.

speaker 2 [interrupting]: Of course.

speaker 1: What the heck are they doing over there

speaker 2: What the heck

speaker 1: Woah woah what the heck okay wow

speaker 2: What the hell [gets out of car] Hey, hey guys! What the f[this is where the beep comes in] are you doing!

speaker 3: Don’t take pictures!

speaker 2: I’m filming!

speakers 3 and 4: [inaudible] Don’t take pictures! Put the phone away!

speaker 2: Guys, calm down!

[the reckoning arrives]

speakers 3 and 4: [general yelling] No no no! f[beep]! Wow! Wow! [yelling continues inaudibly]