This news item is both perplexing and um... perplexing. A German "performance artist" has built himself a giant hamster ball out of steel pipes, and is walking/rolling across the country. The article shows him in the ball in the tiger cage of the local zoo, which is odd enough, but it gets really strange when they detail why he's doing this.
He propels it by simply shifting his weight in a walking motion, and aims to cover 13 miles a day. 'I got the idea for this because, about a year ago, I hit a low and realised how little help there was out there,' he said. 'I set about thinking of a way to publicise those who need pyschiatric help and came up with this. 'Basically, the whole concept is about finding the courage to do something and inspire courage in those who have lost their confidence along with much else.'
Psychiatric patients from clinics in the region helped him create the rolling globe and some were present to see Drossel roll into the tiger enclosure.
After his encounter with the cats he was trundling on through the state, aiming eventually to finish in his home town of Warburg on April 28. Karl-Josef Laumann, the health minister for the state, is backing the stunt. He said: 'Psychiatric patients are often stigmatised and ostracised in our society. This must change.'
Yes, and nothing will change that faster than footage of a psychiatric patient rolling around a tiger enclosure in a giant hamster ball.
I can't decide if this is a cool idea, or totally misguided. Is doing something stupid and crazy to make people think, "Wow, that's really stupid and crazy." really going to spur those who need help to visit a shrink? What's the logic? "I might be insane, but at least I'm not that nut who spent all summer rolling around Germany in a giant hamster ball built by mental patients?" Is doing something certifiably idiotic really the best way to demonstrate that you're no longer in need of psychiatric care, and to spur others to enroll in it?
Labels: weird news
