Often we meet and greet people on automatic gear. There is no eye contact, no hugs, not even a hand shake. We talk but it’s all rhetorical speech, we have no intention to really know how the person is doing, what is making him/her happy or miserable. We blame it on our scarsety of time, not without it being true; the age of information has sucked our lifes to the scary times described by the genius Charles Chaplin on Modern Times. We live mechanically, working to surviving and surviving to work. Social Media have very little to do with socializing and even less on being a media, it is more like a dead end burden we feel obliged to attend and respond to. We are being slaved by our cepllphones. Special moments have been neglected to second or third priority, if at all a priority. We now get emotional by watching tiny videos on tiny screens, just before continuing all the meaningless compulsory activities that took over our days and lifes. It feels like we have no choice. We are exhausted and it feels like everyone else is living a better life that the one we are. It is difficult to choose what we want when we have to do what we must. The new phone, the new car, the new next thing that will grant us the new debt, but not the peace we should be gaining. Most of us are not even struggling about the fancy things, the majority of humanity is still trying to figure out where they will sleep tonight or what their next meal will be, if it will at all be. Where did we go wrong? And how to step out of this madness? Few of us have the luxury to plan ahead. Only for today I know what to do: I will paint. And tonight, for sure, I will watch Modern Times. It seems that the fella knew what he was playing about. Art has the answer, and hopefully it will redeem us.
Art: Goof old days – 30×40 – 2023 – In exhibition at Naivistit Iittalassa.
This painting is a triptyc. That means that it is made by 3 different paintings, composing one story or image. They work independently but makes more sense together. If you see only each isolated image, different narratives are possible. Is the girl alone in the room? Is the dining room empty? is the woman sad and lonely? But together it is possible to contextualize and create a whole new story and better understand the dynamics of each character and unfold a wider narrative.
I suggest us to consider that life itself is a multiplicity of triptychs. Many, many stories composing a wider narrative of events. What story interests us most? Who tells the facts? What facts are predominant, defended, relevant, true? Everything matters and all sides have their own version of the facts, os the truth. Wars are not disconnected from this perception. Racism either. Is it terrorism or defense? Is it violence ou reaction? All stories have a context, a beginning, a perspective and many sides, many factual or possible narratives.
Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, justifies violence, war, racism. And yet, it is more present than ever.
It is very frustrating to see what’s happening in the world. Makes me angry, upset, sad, depressed to see the insane orchestra of media and nations blinding and deafening the masses. We are all puppets being played by the same old crows. We are supporting one cause and helping to massacre others. But here is the plot twist: we are only seeing one picture. Some people are defending one painting and not seeing the other paintings. Some people are raging against one image and ignoring the rest of the images that compose the whole picture. Some didn’t even see a single painting, they are just trusting blindly someone that told the story about the one painting that interests them most.
How far will this insanity last? How long will humanity insist on pointing its guns on themselves and ignoring the bigger picture?
We are subjects to fake news on a daily basis. We have been drowning in lies for way longer than it would possibly be considered normal. Lies are not, never normal. Nor healthy. It shows deep sickness in society. It disguises the lowest forms of manipulation for the benefit of a few. It is the sign of greed and evil in its most disgusting way. We are not only fed with lies, but we help to spread it, as a deadly virus. Corona makes fewer victims than Fake News. They say: “A lie, told a million times, become the truth” – but in virtual social media times, a few likes and shares are enough to sink deeply and overtake less smart brains and become a pandemic of lies and misinformation. People have no filter, not enough information and education to differentiate right from wrong anymore. We see poor people defending rich people´s interests. We see women obeying and complying to misogyny and prejudice. We see minorities allowing their opressor to absurd acts of cruelty and violence. Fake news become justifiable knowledge for idiots. And we see all of them worshipping the very knife that will stab their own flesh, sooner or later.
luciana mariano 