work
Alienated
| category | Painting |
| subject | Political / Social, Landscape, Nature |
| tags | Gaia, pattern, pattern roller, nature, plants, freestyle landscape, Earth |
| base | 84 cm |
| height | 60 cm |
| depth | 0 cm |
| year | 2020 |
"The expression “relation to the world” itself demonstrates the extent to which we are, so to speak, alienated. The ecological crisis is often presented as the eternally renewed discovery that “man belongs to nature” – a seemingly simple expression that is actually very obscure (and not only because “man” is obviously also “woman”). Is it a way of talking about humans who finally understand that they are part of a “natural world” to which they must learn to conform?" (Bruno Latour: Facing Gaia)
Most definitions of the human stress the extent to which it is seperated from nature. The removal of man from nature appears as a basic prerequisite of culture, and at the same time establishes a continuing experience of suffering in the world. We cannot answer the call "back to nature" in order to overcome the sense of alienation. We are no closer to nature in the deepest jungle (if we can still find one) or at the highest peak than we are in our living room; perhaps we feel the alienation even more strongly there. No shortcuts.
"No, we have to agree to remain open to the dizzying otherness of existents, the list of which is not closed, and to the multiple ways they have of existing or of relating among themselves, without regrouping them too quickly in some set, whatever it might be."
(Bruno Latour: Facing Gaia)
The painting "Alienated" is done with gouache, spray paint and acrylics on paper. Distorted, fragmentary but nonetheless beautiful landscapes are combined with found quotes and scraps of words that shook me and should do the same to the viewer. It is part of the series "How to Speak about the Earth", which was started in fall 2020. At its heart is the engagement with the the so called "climate crisis" and Bruno Latour's analysis of the current situation in his book "Facing Gaia".
Most definitions of the human stress the extent to which it is seperated from nature. The removal of man from nature appears as a basic prerequisite of culture, and at the same time establishes a continuing experience of suffering in the world. We cannot answer the call "back to nature" in order to overcome the sense of alienation. We are no closer to nature in the deepest jungle (if we can still find one) or at the highest peak than we are in our living room; perhaps we feel the alienation even more strongly there. No shortcuts.
"No, we have to agree to remain open to the dizzying otherness of existents, the list of which is not closed, and to the multiple ways they have of existing or of relating among themselves, without regrouping them too quickly in some set, whatever it might be."
(Bruno Latour: Facing Gaia)
The painting "Alienated" is done with gouache, spray paint and acrylics on paper. Distorted, fragmentary but nonetheless beautiful landscapes are combined with found quotes and scraps of words that shook me and should do the same to the viewer. It is part of the series "How to Speak about the Earth", which was started in fall 2020. At its heart is the engagement with the the so called "climate crisis" and Bruno Latour's analysis of the current situation in his book "Facing Gaia".
