Steps in the garden
Walking in the garden on a warm evening, in the fresh air, is good for the mind, for thoughts and for mosquitoes.
You hear your footsteps as nature, unquestioned, naturally understood. It takes more effort to understand culture, even though it is man-made, as opposed to nature. It is accepted that it is a spiritual sphere of human activity, created by man – hence artificial. Nature is said to have spirits, even many of them – all kinds and everywhere: in the air, in the water, in the earth, in the wood, in the fire. Modern man does not think much about this, because he is surrounded by a multitude of other, modern “spirits”. In general, he has more faith in technology, science, the system of production and consumption than in the spirit of the forest. How much of the forest does one have to cut down to feel its spirit? It is more pleasant to hear talk about prosperity, benefits, profits (not everyone understands), the free market, than about the presence of spirits. Behind us, the footsteps of today’s smart technology – the transformer of progress – are more felt than heard. Everything has long been calculated and divided, your small place in the system has been established – take it and don’t think about it. It seems to be more profitable to produce and sell everything, and natural products are self-sufficient, generic. They must necessarily be processed, turned into a commodity, industrial food – quick, tasty, cheap.
Plastic trees are already being produced, and you can buy a palm tree or something else that is not available here because of natural conditions. Artificial teeth, joints, eyes, breasts are even better than natural ones. Artificial flowers, non-alcoholic beer, artificial women, artificial intelligence. What next? We can create artificial nature, but…
Is life a natural earthly fruit of nature, or is it also created. Or is it the result of billions of meteorites hurtling through space and just a few accidental hits on an earth egg ready for fertilisation? Or is the world around us real, though of unknown origin. We prefer to avoid thinking about it and do not want to encounter another world that does not fit into our understanding. Parallel worlds, there are infinitely many of them and there is no point in arguing whether they are real or not. Like the mineral water in Druskininkai – good for health. Artificial intelligence doesn’t need art, it’s too human, too natural. But man still needs it, but only to transfer his problems there, just like artificial intelligence. We are replacing the real jungle with the internet, with the artificial, with the virtual.
Light is also artificial, LED, coming from TV screens, monitors and phones, which can replace natural light. This looking at light is as common as the very old, cave-like looking at a burning campfire, which offers security, peace and warmth. All that is left is the habit of looking at the fire, like hunting in a shopping center, although no longer necessary.
The footsteps in the garden are no longer heard, but where does the smell come from? The smell of smoke with the sweetish tang of sizzling meat. Maybe someone is cooking a roast in the garden.
3 June 2017.
Works in the exhibition “Steps in the Garden”.
Atu and Iga 2017
Meteorite 2017
Illumination 2017
Fatalism 2017
Melancholy 1991
Interconnecting Vessels 1991
The Look 1995
