White Paint

This week I had an art exam. Whilst I worked one of the art technicians was preparing old canvasses for repainting, whitewashing over whatever was pictured on them before so that they could be recycled. It was quite a melancholy sight, each painting seemed to reflect the years each student had put into studying art: the stress, the relief, the feelings and emotions, quickly and mechanically erased. I wondered how many layers of paintings lay on those canvasses, how far they stretched back and how many dreams and disappointments had already been painted over. After my exam had finished, I piled up my own paintings and wondered how long it would be before they would disappear to make room for a new student’s work, only to be covered again in white emulsion.