Baby Elephants

As many of you know, I am a big fan of Edward Gorey. I was definitly thinking of his influence when I slung this one. A friend told me that circus elephants are often chained when they are babies. They, of course, tug on the chain in attempt to escape. They soon learn that they are too small to break the big heavy chain, so, they stop trying. When they get older, the circus owners can then use a flimsy rope and a stake to keep the paceyderms in line. You see, as babies they learn that they are unable to break free. This is refered to as a learned or assumed restraint. And, being that elephants never forget, it is a perfect object lesson. I, of course, countered with the idea that every once in awhile you hear about the elephant that broke free and rampaged ten city blocks. As artists, we know a lot about assumed contraints. We also know about breaking chains. Thus, another illustration was born. Look closely...how many elephants do you see?