loss, as a mutilation on the body of our humanity.1
A friend of mine who is a Pastor gave
a talk one Sunday morning where he began by saying "I could stand up here
and deliver a sermon with, let's say, ten bullet points. Perhaps you agree with
nine of those points and disagree with one. Guaranteed it'll be the one point
you disagree with that you'll remember! Why!?”
What is it about the current
condition of the human psyche that wants to seek out that one point to argue about yet apparently
fails to celebrate and build on the ninety percent of stuff we agree on? As one
negotiator's maxim puts it "there is probably more that unites us than
divides us".
Can we think of a better starting
point than that?!
Yet we continue to see the polarising
of extreme views, even within our own neighbourhoods; views that refuse to
tolerate anything other than their own narrow mindsets. The clash between the
religious and secular spheres for example has to be seen as indicative of a
wider, interconnected conflict of global ideologies, religions and geopolitical
power struggles alongside the marginalisation and persecution of minority
opinions or lifestyles.
However, if we look at the situation on a global scale we will in fact see that it isn't as hopeless as we perhaps assume or perceive it to be. For although it seems that democracy is on the back foot and that the age of the strongman is on the rise, history has shown us that human nature is not on the authoritarian’s side.
The BBC’s foreign news editor John Simpson
recently pointed out that two hundred years ago there were only handful of
democracies around the world. Even by the 1970’s there were still only 20 or
so. “Today, despite the continuation of Chinese and Russian authoritarian
regimes, there are well over a hundred….for every example of democracy fading
out or finding itself under attack, there are countless examples of democracy
and democratic activists moving forward and finding solutions” 2. Also it is
surprising to learn that deaths from terrorism were statistically much higher
in the 1970’s than now! Although on the increase, we are not yet back up to 70s
level!
Stephen Pinker in his book Enlightenment Now
demonstrates at length many statistics that support a considerable rise in our
level of well-being and security within a range of societies. And although not all-pervasive it is widespread, showing that any negative perception of
humanity in a downward spiral is essentially inaccurate.
Despite our impatience for wanting speedy
solutions in an age of rapid change where democracy by nature is slower to
deliver, and when so-called strongmen such as Trump, Putin or Xi Jinping tout
their ability for instant response, humanity at heart still abhors
Authoritarianism.
Democracy is not perfect. It is subject (as is
religion) to abuse and manipulation and was called by Churchill, the worst form
of government, except for all the others. “Forgive its failings, and work to
improve them as long as it’s core institutions further civil rights, guarantee
rule of law and are subject to the will of the people” 3.
“Want to fight religious extremism? Then don’t
push secularism. Marginalising religion, asserting that you can’t be part of
mainstream society without being secular, pushes both alienated Muslims in
Europe and Jews in Israel [and I would add Christians in the US and elsewhere]
towards isolation and extremism”4.
Fight social and economic inequality, engage
with the marginalised and disenfranchised and teach our children the critical
thinking skills to separate truth from lies.
Top Image: © Stuart Duffin 2018 "The Paradox of Prophecy" (detail)
....................................................
....................................................
About the new work...
"On the Making of Errors" - mezzotint
Charlottesville lawyer Charles Weber who is fighting to retain the cities
confederate statues said in their defense “it’s not in the US DNA to deny its history”.
And with respect, that is a valid point. Those who forget history are bound to
live through it again. The problem is not about denial, but essentially with
the glorification of that history. Perhaps a considerate solution would be to
allow statues of civil rights heroes such as Martin Luther King alongside
those of Robert E Lee; this too is our history, let’s not forget it. The
mezzotint “On the Making of Errors” relates (coincidentally) to this while also
playing on title of one of the 19th century’s standard treatise on the art of
etching called “On the making of Etchings” by Frank Short RE (published in 1888
and of which I own a first edition issue). It is in the lower panel that we
read the giveaway subtitle “the long awaited return of history”.
“TERMINVS” - collage on panel
In relation to what I wrote in the post above, I
am also launching a new working of the “TERMINVS” collage. It includes
the Latin phrase terminus
post quod non licit; no going beyond this point. On the
left there is an image of confrontation (here and no further). The right hand
image speaks of the opposite (here is the starting point). Jerusalem,
represented by both the fragmented graffito and the old city panorama taken
from the roof of my studio is in the center. The work is of course “not about
Jerusalem, but relates to it in it’s many forms” as Arik Kilemnik wrote of my
work many years ago. This collage with its call for something beyond tolerance
and resolution remains central to much of my new developing work.
“Bang goes the theory” - mezzotint
One of the significant images in “Bang goes the
theory” has a dove sitting on the barrel of a gun. Believe it or not, this
actually happened. While a television crew were following a squad of soldiers
in the Middle East in Adam Curtiss’s documentary Bitter Lakes, a dove did
indeed land on the barrel of one of the soldiers guns while lying in
the undergrowth on patrol. The look of utter astonishment on the soldiers face on film is
a wonder to behold. And it only goes to show that anything is possible.
NOTES:
1. Simon Schama on the destruction of Palmyra.
Civilisations, BBC.
2. and 3. James Stavridis, 4-star Admiral and
16th Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, Time Magazine.
4. Gershom Gorenberg, Israeli journalist writing
in Haaretz.
Top Image: © Stuart Duffin 2018 "The Paradox of Prophecy" (detail)
Top Image: © Stuart Duffin 2018 "The Paradox of Prophecy" (detail)
.
