interventions: The Golden Touch
The Golden Touch, a tale from Ancient Greece
There once lived a king named Midas, who was granted a special wish by Dionysus the god of ritual madness and religious ecstacy. Midas' wish, granted because of a good deed performed, was that whatever he/Midas touched would turn to gold. Although Dionysus tried to dissuade him, Midas insisted that the wish was an excellent one, and it was granted! Excitedly, Midas went about touching all sorts of things, turning them into gold. Eventually Midas became hungry. He picked up a piece of food, but he couldn't eat it, for it had turned to gold in his hand! "I'll starve," moaned Midas, "Perhaps this was not the best of wishes". Midas' beloved daughter, noting the result of his problematic wish, threw her arms about him to comfort him, and she too turned to gold! "The golden touch is no blessing," cried Midas. He went to the river and wept. The sand of that river turned as yellow as "fool's gold" for it is there, they say, that King Midas washed away the curse of the golden touch with his own tears.
Images below document three out of five rogue event, November 2020, New York, NY.
acrylic paint, acid-free ink text, goldleaf, arches paper (30 X 22 inches)
