Hand Thing-Mental Illness or Art?

Years ago I feel upon a very popular video on YouTube called the Hand Thing by Shaye Saint John. With over 5 million views, the video has become one of the most bizarre, weird and to some, scary videos on YouTube. If you haven't seen it, it is a video of a man with a mannequin mask and wig asking a person by the name of Shaye if he or she is doing the "hand thing" today. Then after, the video goes to another mannequin laying down with two mannequin hands doing some type of clapping. While clapping, it makes the sound of "A-hoyt! A-hoyt".

Some find this video disturbing, but for me, I find it interesting and funny. What is going on in this persons head? What are they suffering from? Is it a mental illness of is it just for fun? Upon further research, the man behind the video was a man called Eric Fournier. Fournier was an artists and an openly gay individual. Fournier died On February 25 2010, at the age 42, from alcoholism-induced internal bleeding.

Alcoholism sufferers usually have a form of metal illness which can manifest in the habit. Mental illness gets a bad rep. People need to understand that mental illness can create some unusual ideas, thus creating art. Some of our greatest artist in history suffered form mental illness and should not be considered a bad thing in general. This video helps us understand what is really going on in a persons head that is out the norm and be seen as art. Mental illness should be taken serious, but the talents that can come from it can be helpful in understanding the magnitude of the illness. Lets understand this as way to see there pain and thoughts as art, something that might never be seen or understood to others.