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“Information Inquisition” Oct 2013 |
This large 8’x4′ painting is made of gold and copper paint, a solution to patina (age) the metallic paint, metal, and concrete.
The dominant image is the Mayflower Ship in binary code. The base of the ship is in uniform binary code in copper paint as to clandestinely blend in to the gold of the background (a cheap metal disguised within a high metal). The uniformity of the base of the ship shows the careful organization of humans on an inquisition. The sails of the ship are in disarrayed binary code to show that the winds of time inevitably create chaos and blow forces of the world in random directions. In the top left, concrete painted gold forms the elemental design of an imperial ship. Each of the three sails marks different icons of the old European imperial world – Christianity (as the cross), industry (as a tall edifice), and time (as Big Ben). The ship is sailing from this imperial figure towards a design of ancient Mayan symbols.
I painted this while studying finance. My studies turned out not to lead me towards a career in finance, but instead to an understanding of the corruption and cruelty that commerce fueled in the settling of the Americas by European powers and continues to fuel in the modern world. The use of metal paint and protruding metal waves connotes to cold, industrial aims systematically seeking wealth.
This is not just a historical narrative though. It is a modern analysis of the ways technology operates in our lives. The same force of greed that existed hundreds of years ago also fuels today’s modern businesses. Now, technology must be brought into focus. Technology can be the ship that carries out the missions of the greedy onto the plains of the masses. Written in Mayan in the background is the question “What will we loose?” When the Europeans invaded the Americas, libraries of ancient wisdom were destroyed.
As we continue to integrate our lives with technology, what wisdom will we loose?
Who are the powers that lead the modern inquisition? What are their objectives?
Are we fated to the same reality as the natives of the Americas, but in a modern context?
