Study

STUDY

I came home from Europe to northern Illinois in '68 --- my home or rather my mother's home. Had long hair and a beard that I let grow while travelling in Europe. In the beginning it was just an act of independence, but I soon inadvertently discovered that it took on the characteristics of a psychological study. One began to notice that by appearing to others, as an overtly different and eccentric persona, a reaction occurred that one would otherwise not provoke and thus not experience. In Portugal for instance, in small towns with few tourists, people would gawk from the side-walks as I would drive by on my scooter girl friend on the back --- lean out of their windows to stare and sometimes point --- all up and down the block. I would sometimes create quite a stir. But this enthusiasm was not hostile, just curious. And thus as I visited the various countries all over Europe, the reactions I perceived in my encounters with the various nationalities became a comparative study.

On the Left Bank in Paris I saw people far more radical looking than myself; character types I had never before seen in my life. One was a six foot three giant of a man, dressed as a Viking Thor with a horned helmet, wore furs, carried a spear and was always seen with two or more good-looking women. Another man dressed in all white African safari slacks, coat and shoes; carried a black doctor's case and had waste long glossy black hair. A neighbor in my camp-site on the outskirts of Paris, wore hair half way down his back, had a beard, finger nails about an inch long and was a fine arts painter, showing me some of his smaller works.

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