Of human frailty

There is a magnificent piece of art in the Met Museum, New York. It is stark and simple but leaves a profound impact. It is a mirror set in a mahogany frame with words written in gold leaf. You stand in front of it, see your image and read what is written on the mirror: 'Everything will be taken away'.

Everything will, indeed, be taken away - your physical self, your ego, all of which you take so much pride in. This work by Adrian Piper is a reminder of human frailty and mortality. There are six identical pieces spread across the museum by the same artist. You encounter them in the most unexpected places; as you walk past the works of Monet, Matisse and Rembrandt, pieces that remind you of Hermann Hesse's pithy observation that art is the contemplation of the world in a state of grace, and then this mirror beckons you. The words inform you again that you are nothing. George Bernard Shaw said that you use a glass mirror to see your face; you use works of art to see your soul. Piper's work does both.

You come out of the museum, and even as you are recovering from the display of sheer creativity and brilliance, the words ring in your mind. Each of us needs to see a mirror and remind ourselves of the fickle nature of life, of us being but little specks of dust in the universe. This will help us be humble and, hopefully, better human beings, too.