Love You To Death
Anonymous
Found 05/2015, Savers (North Loop and Burnet)

The heart itself is usually seen as aggressive, not passive. In the tarot, it is mirrored by the cup, a receptive vessel, symbol of the subconscious. Yet the heart of Love You To Death is aggressive, domineering. Its ornamentation evokes the flames of the Sacred Heart, but barbed like a conquerer’s crown, with cutting edges like glass shards. Its tendrils suggest the circulatory system, yet they also resemble invasive roots, spreading outward beyond the field of the image and invading the viewer’s space. This heart is a trap, dangerous and barbed and adorned with the symbols of power and royalty.

Are the words “Love You To Death” in the voice of the artist, or a persona? The message becomes a threat, the artist’s love is dominating and possessive. Yet love itself may be the ruler, a tyrant that overthrows reason and forces us down destructive roads to serve its fundamentally irrational ends. We believe we are rational creatures, but love makes slaves of us.